Obama: Afghanistan Decision Within Weeks

From CBS:

President Vague about when he Will Respond to General's Request for Thousands More Soldiers.

(CBS/AP) President Barack Obama says he will make his decision on new U.S. troops for Afghanistan in "the coming weeks."

Mr. Obama told reporters Tuesday that decisions on the military front are important but are just one aspect of the improvements needed to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. He said an important element is building up civilian capacity, to help improve Afghanistan's governance, agriculture, rule of law and other areas.

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My Comment: President Obama's rhetoric has caught up to him .... and now there are consequences from his actions.

It is clear that contrary to what he said in the first two/three months of his Presidency, a strategy and vision of what to do in Afghanistan was not on the table. In the interim, we have had the top commander in Afghanistan fired and replaced by General McChrystal, who in turn was given the order to quickly develop a military assessment and plan of action for Afghanistan.

Two months after General mcChrystal handed in his report .... we are still waiting for the President.

In a certain way I do understand President Obama's reluctance to escalate the war in Afghanistan. Escalating will mean a full scale war in Afghanistan next summer that will probably approach the casualty rates that were reached during the height of the Iraqi occupation. It will also upend the U.S. military budget, and in turn impact the Federal budget as a whole. The political costs are also going to be heavy, with dissatisfaction and open rebellion from his base and those in the media who support him.

But to not engage in the war will also have consequences and political costs that he cannot avoid. His credibility will be shredded, and allies will start to openly question his competence and leadership .... a poisonous mixture in today's hostile world.

Either way he will lose .... a predicament that I am sure that he has never been in before .... but one in which he is in right now.