President Barack Obama acknowledges the traveling press corps as he arrives to play golf in Kailua. Behind him is Eugene Kang, a member of Obama's staff Photo: APFrom The Washington Times:
The military general credited for capturing Saddam Hussein and killing the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq says he has only spoken to President Obama once since taking command of Afghanistan.
“I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC [video teleconferece],” General Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.
“You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?” Mr. Martin followed up.
“That is correct,” the general replied.
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My Comment: No time to talk with the Commanding General in Afghanistan, but plenty of time to talk with former General Powell, Sen. McCain, and playing golf.
President Bush talked to his commanders in Iraq weekly .... if not daily .... and he gave up on golf.
Am I the only one who sees something wrong here?
4 comments:
Take a look at the caption:
"President-elect Obama..."
If you want to trash the President, there's legitimate grounds for that on some issues, but don't manufacture stuff like the golf line, and recall the President Bush set a huge record for "Most time spent on vacation by a President".
Good point Alex. I missed that caption. I copied it from an old picture from The Telegraph.
I doubt that any President .... President Obama and President Bush included .... really do take a vacation. They are on call 24/7. But President Bush was always getting feedback from his top commanders .... which as Commander in Chief is something that every President should do.
As for the golf line ... yeah .... it is a bit harsh. But I dumped on President Bush when he was playing Gulf during the height of the Iraq War .... and I am doing the same thing for President Obama right now.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I agree that the Obama administration is fumbling the ball in Afghanistan - I'm just not sure that there is a winning strategy that we could be doing instead. We need to have a national discussion about what we are doing there. If we are there to create a stable democracy, our strategy should be different than if we just want to kill terrorists, or provide humanitarian aid, or etc. I don't think anybody, at any level in this government or in the previous administration, really knows what the ultimate goal is there. I don't think it's fair to our military to ask them to put their lives on the line when we don't know what they are dying for.
Alex, I agree with you 110%
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