Will Afghanistan Be President Obama's "Vietnam"?

U.S. President Barack Obama makes opening remarks during the meeting on Afghanistan at the NATO summit in Chicago, May 21, 2012. U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, center, U.S. Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, far right, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, back left, and U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, back center, joined Obama. NATO photo

Obama's Debacle -- David Rothkopf, Foreign Policy

The president has protected his right flank for now, but history won’t be so kind.

He cut out the generals. He cut out the secretary of defense. He cut out the secretary of state. And in the end, he produced a schizophrenic policy that will almost certainly go down as the greatest foreign-policy debacle of his administration.

Afghanistan may not be Barack Obama's Vietnam, but that is only because it has failed to stir national tensions in the way the war in Southeast Asia did. He may therefore get away with his errors in judgment and his victimization by circumstance to a degree that Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon could not. But it is impossible to read accounts like David Sanger's in the New York Times this weekend without concluding that the primary drivers behind U.S. AfPak policy for the past three years have been politics, naivete, and intellectual dishonesty.

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My Comment: As I had mentioned before .... President Obama's supporters will always counter with the following .... he got Bin Laden.

President Obama Lands In Afghanistan For A Surprise Visit

Obama Lands In Afghanistan In Surprise Visit -- CNN

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- President Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday, the first anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan.

On his third trip to Afghanistan since taking office, Obama met with President Hamid Karzai and will make a televised address at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Tuesday's visit comes at a particularly delicate time in relations between the United States and Afghanistan, as plans to withdraw U.S.-led international forces proceed.

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More News On President Obama Landing In Afghanistan For A Surprise Visit

Obama, Under Veil of Secrecy, Visits Kabul to Seal Agreement -- New York Times
Obama in Afghanistan on anniversary of bin Laden's death -- Reuters
Obama in Afghanistan to meet Karzai, troops -- CBC News
Obama in Afghanistan a Year After bin Laden Death -- Wall Street Journal
President Obama slips into Afghanistan to sign post-war agreement -- MSNBC
On bin Laden raid anniversary, Obama makes surprise visit to Afghanistan -- ABC News
Obama Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan -- Time
Obama in Afghanistan to sign security deal, address Americans about an unpopular war -- Washington Post/AP
Obama, Karzai Sign Accord on Future U.S. Role in Afghanistan -- Bloomberg

President Obama Comments On The Afghan Massacre

Obama: Killing Afghans As Serious As Killing Americans -- MSNBC

Updated at 12:17 p.m. ET: WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Tuesday said he viewed the killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier as seriously as if those killed had been Americans.

"The U.S. takes this as seriously as if it were our own citizens and our own children who were murdered," Obama said at the White House.

Obama said he was directing the Pentagon to do a very thorough investigation of the weekend killings. He said the inquiry would "follow the facts" wherever they lead, and that anyone found responsible would be prosecuted fully. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the death penalty is possible if the soldier is convicted.

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More News ON President Obama's Comments On This Weekend's Afghan Massacre

Obama: Afghan shooting inquiry will be thorough -- AP
Obama vows 'full force' of law in Afghan shooting -- AFP
Obama: Will spare no effort in probe of Afghan shooting spree -- Reuters
Obama promises to use "full force of the law" in response to Afghan killings -- CBS News
Obama: U.S. has good Afghan pullout plan -- USA Today
Obama won't rule out faster U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan -- L.A. Times
Obama: No "rush for the exits" in Afghanistan -- CBS
Obama considers quicker exit from Afghanistan after Kandahar massacre -- RT

Did President Obama's Koran Apology Calm Down The Riots In Afghanistan?

President Barack Obama participates in an interview with Bob Woodruff in the Cross Hall and the East Room of the White House, Feb. 29, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Obama: Koran Apology 'Calmed Things Down' -- ABC News

President Obama said his formal apology to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the burning of Korans by U.S. troops last week has "calmed things down" after the incident sparked an outbreak of violence across the country.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Obama said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Bob Woodruff at the White House. "But my criteria in any decision I make, getting recommendations from folks who are actually on the ground, is what is going to best protect our folks and make sure that they can accomplish their mission."

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My Comment: Huh ?!?!?!?! I am clearly on a different planet from the President. But he is the President, and because he has access to information that I do not have, I will give him the benefit of my doubts. However .... after 10 years of fighting this war .... the last three under his watch being the worse .... these doubts are starting to increase.

President Obama: Significant American Drawdown Will Start This Summer

U.S. soldiers conduct a dismounted patrol to Pacha Khak village, Afghanistan, April 7, 2011. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Kristina L. Gupton

Obama: Afghan Drawdown 'Not Just A Token Gesture' -- MSNBC/AP

CHICAGO — President Barack Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that he is confident the promised start of an American withdrawal from Afghanistan this summer will be significant and "not just a token gesture."

Obama also acknowledged that there exists a stalemate between Libyan rebel forces and Moammar Gadhafi, but he said he was very satisfied with the NATO air mission. The "noose is tightening" around the Libyan strongman, Obama said.

On the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the president said: "I still believe it should be closed."

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My Comment: For some reason .... I do not think there will be a significant drawdown of US soldiers from Afghanistan this year. The war's intensity has increased since last year, and while commanders like Patraeus are voicing optimistic reports on progress .... on the ground the war grinds on .... and on .... and on.

Is President Barack Obama Letting Down His Troops?

Bob Woodward (left) Barack Obama Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Bob Woodward Says Barack Obama Doesn't Have The 'X-Factor' -- Daily Telegraph

President Barack Obama is letting down his troops and seems not to have the commitment and 'X-factor' to win the war in Afghanistan, Bob Woodward has told The Daily Telegraph.

This strong opinion is all the more stinging because it comes not from the US President’s usual vociferous critics but Bob Woodward, the legendary Watergate journalist who is normally scrupulous at keeping his views to himself.

“I believe in neutral inquiry,” he tells The Daily Telegraph in an interview. “That is the core job of the journalist.”

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My Comment: I can see how he is perceived like that. He does have a character of aloofness on issues that some may perceive is not important to him .... and unlike President Bush who was focused on the Iraq war everyday .... President Obama prefers to delegate much of the strategy of this war to others, and to take his time when reviewing what major policy decisions must be implemented.

Personally .... I do not share Bob Woodward's comments, and if anything .... I sense that President Obama is deeply distressed with the war in Afghanistan. He must know that this is a no winner, and that it will only serve to divert attention from his domestic focus .... which is probably the most important issue for him now.

What Is The Relationship Between President Obama And General Petraeus

President Obama and Gen. David Petraeus appeared together at a White House press conference June 23 when it was announced that Petraeus would be taking over command of US forces in Afghanistan. Larry Downing/Reuters

Obama And Petraeus: A Wary Relationship -- Washington Post

Everyone believes the most important relationship in Washington next year will be between President Obama and House Republican Leader John Boehner. A case can be made that equally important will be the relationship between the president and his commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus.

Bob Woodward's powerful new book, "Obama's Wars," underscores the delicacy of the relationship between Obama and Petraeus by highlighting the tensions that have long existed between the two ambitious and competitive men.

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My Comment: President Obama comes from a political history and background that is deeply suspicious of the military complex, and more importantly, the policy that has involved America in multiple wars since 9/11. General Petraeus on the other hand has a long history in knowing how to interact and communicate with politicians, and to forward the military's viewpoints when it came to important policy decisions.

Afghanistan will be the "breaking of the camel's back" on this relationship. General Petraeus .... and everyone else in the military .... knows that any preemptive move out of Afghanistan when the security situation on the ground does not warrant it will result in disaster. The White House has a different point of view .... with Presidential elections are only 2 years away, any sizeable US military presence in Afghanistan will only undermine the US President's support among his anti-war base in what is expected to be a difficult Presidential run for him.

Damn if you do .... damn if you don't .... and for President Obama he will push for a withdrawal of US forces by the end of next year. For General Petraeus .... he will be positioned to continue a war policy that he knows cannot succeed .... and what he will do then will be anyone's guess.

Afghanistan Is Now President Obama's War: Bob Woodward

EXCLUSIVE: Bob Woodward To Diane Sawyer: 'This Is Obama's War' -- ABC News

Author Says President Obama Is Afghanistan 'Strategist-in-Chief'; 'Going Along Is not Conviction'.

President Obama grew so frustrated with his own administration's deliberations over the war in Afghanistan that he wound up writing his own strategy, dictating a six-page, single-spaced "terms sheet" that sought to define the military mission and prevent his commanders from further escalating the war, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.

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More News On President Obama And The Afghan War

Military thwarted president seeking choice in Afghanistan -- Washington Post
Obama is Afghanistan's 'strategist-in-chief,' says Woodward -- USA Today
Foreign Policy: Obama Versus The Afghanistan Team -- NPR
Obama aide: Generals backed Afghanistan plan, including July drawdown -- USA Today
Obama: Tough commander in chief or insecure armchair general? -- Blake Hounshell, Foreign Policy
The real story of Obama's Wars -- Andrew J Bacevich, Asia Times

My Comment: I love the spin on this one. Bottom line .... President Obama is the Commander in Chief, and what he says goes .... and he as President knows that. Trying to shift blame that the military is trying to 'thwart' the President .... sorry .... that does not hold water with me.

Why President Obama's Afghan Strategy Will Fail

Afghan National Army soldiers training on the outskirts of Kabul (epa)
The Afghan National Army (ANA) has a long way to go before it can stamp its authority on Afghanistan's southern provinces, where the Taliban insurgency is strong. Photo from Radio Free Europe.

Left Out: How To Grow The Afghan Army -- Time Magazine

President Barack Obama has tied his decision to order 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to a pledge that they'll start returning home in 2011. But the President's West Point speech Dec. 1 was mute on his plans for the growing Afghan army, which remains the best — some would say only — way to bring home American personnel. His vagueness on the question of increasing the Afghan forces was understandable: the U.S. and its allies have already boosted target troop levels for the Afghan army four times, and the U.S. commander there, General Stanley McChrystal, wants the target number doubled yet again.

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Update #1: U.S. troops skeptical of Afghan soldiers' abilities -- Washington Times
Update #2: Are targets too low for Afghan army? -- Hot Air

My Comment: The lynch pin of President Obama's Afghanistan strategy is to grow and train the Afghan military. But as the above three articles clearly reveal .... it is not going to happen in the time frame that they have been given to accomplish such a mission. It is not even going to be close.

So why make the speech and make a commitment to send tens of thousands of troops for one year.

Bottom line .... this is a strategy to appease his base, quiet his critics, to lay the groundwork to depart from Afghanistan by 2011, and to leave a bare bones Afghan military that may hold back the Taliban for a few more years. The Soviets did the same thing in 1989. They spent a year or two cobbling together an Afghan military and police force of almost 300,000 men, and then left declaring victory. Within 5 years .... the Taliban were in control of the country.

President Obama's priority is the U.S., not Afghanistan, and it is here that he wants to spend his political capital and time in office. He has made his agenda very clear on numerous occasions, and Afghanistan is a distraction from where he wishes his real focus was on .... which is the U.S. and his social/political/economic policies for this country.

No surprise .... many outside of the U.S. are now noticing this disconnect.

President Obama's Speech On Afghanistan (News & Reaction)

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to cadets during a nationally televised address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, December 1, 2009. Obama is announcing a plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months in a bid to beat back the Taliban and bring a quicker end to a costly and unpopular eight- year war. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES CONFLICT MILITARY POLITICS)

Obama To Send More Troops, Seek Afghanistan Exit -- Reuters

WEST POINT, New York (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he is sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next summer to speed the battle against the Taliban and plans to start bringing some home in 18 months.

The accelerated timetable Obama unveiled in a high-stakes speech surprised some Pentagon planners who expected a 12- to 18-month period for deploying forces to bolster the 68,000 U.S. troops already in the war zone.

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More News On President Obama's Speech On Afghanistan

Obama's speech on Afghanistan -- Globe And Mail

Obama's Afghanistan speech: five key points -- Christian Science Monitor
Obama orders 30,000-troop boost in Afghanistan -- Yahoo News/AP
Obama Bets Big on Brief Surge -- Wall Street Journal
Obama announces 30,000 troop surge -- Yahoo News/AFP
Obama outlines buildup and exit strategy for Afghanistan -- McClatchy News
President Obama: U.S. Troops to Afghanistan at 'Fastest Pace Possible' -- ABC News
Key US senators back Obama's troop surge -- AFP
Critics From Across the Spectrum Blast Plan -- Wall Street Journal
Congress divided over financing for troop increase -- Washington Post
Barack Obama's Afghanistan plan draws mixed reaction -- The Guardian
President Obama’s Troop Decision Audience -- FOX News
Map: Foreign forces in Afghanistan -- BBC

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.

President Obama: Will Reduce American Forces In Afghanistan (But Not Substantially)

President Obama, at the National Counterterrorism Center outside Washington on Tuesday, cited successes against Al Qaeda. Pool photo by Brooks Kraft

Obama Rules Out Large Reduction in Afghan Force -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama told Congressional leaders on Tuesday that he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan or shift the mission to just hunting terrorists there, but he indicated that he remained undecided about the major troop buildup proposed by his commanding general.

Meeting with leaders from both parties at the White House, Mr. Obama seemed to be searching for some sort of middle ground, saying he wanted to “dispense with the straw man argument that this is about either doubling down or leaving Afghanistan,” as White House officials later described his remarks.

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My Comment: The key phrase in this article is the first sentence ....

.... he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan.

I guess this means that U.S. forces are going to be reduced .... but not substantially (so much for General McChrystal's request for 40,000 additional).

With the exception of Lucianne.com, no one else has focused on this statement. Is this Obama speak? (just like George Bush and his abuse of the English language), or is this a statement of policy .... that there is going to be a "small" reduction of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

This question was not asked in todays White House press briefing .... and no one else is bringing this up in the media.

It is no surprise that U.S. policy towards Afghanistan is mixed up, and media coverage is completely lacking.

Update: Barack Obama may send just 10,000 troops to Afghanistan -- The Telegraph

President Obama Look's Like A Man Who Has Already Read Gen. Stanley McChrystal's Afghan Report

U.S. President Barack Obama waves after walking out of the Oval Office before departing the White House in Washington for the Presidential retreat in Camp David September 2, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Obama Using 5 Measures To Assess Afghan Report -- AP

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is weighing an expected request for more U.S. troops against concerns that an expanded American presence could be perceived by Afghan civilians as an occupation army and not a liberating force battling a determined and bloody Taliban resurgence.

As the president took a newly finished review of military strategy in Afghanistan with him to Camp David on Wednesday as he continues a vacation break, a senior administration official declined to say how Obama is leaning on whether to boost American forces above the troops he ordered deployed earlier this year.

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My Comment: When I glanced at the pictures of President Obama before going to Camp David for this Labor Day weekend (see above) .... I saw a President who looked pale and tired.

My instincts told me that his options for Afghanistan have already been given to him .... and (I am sure) none of them are appetizing.

This weekend will probably result in making decisions that will impact millions of lives .... and they could be the wrong decisions. My only hope is that his advisers and Generals have advised well .... and that all possible options have been put on the table for him to make his Presidential decision.

My guess is that in the next two weeks we will know exactly where we are going in Afghanistan, and President Obama's decision is not going to please anyone .... including himself.