Thursday, September 03, 2009

Worthless

Afghanistan, and the Obama administration. OK, Tecs. Is this Bush derangement syndrome in the mirror, or is it good sense?
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8 comments:

Tecumseh said...

This violates a fundamental principle of the American way of war: Once the president assigns the mission, the commander must receive due consideration when he asks for the necessary resources. ... Any decision about troop levels should be made based upon the facts on the ground, not politics.

Duhhh. Incontestable rule. But of course, not always respected. Of course, W (and Rummy) deviated from this basic principle by not assigning enough troops to Iraq for a couple of years. But this was due more to stupidity (at least with 100% hindsight -- it was not totally clear at the time, perhaps). So OK, now we're all wiser and know better. O said he's gonna show how this should be done in Afghanistan. Of course, you and I (and AA) didn't buy that, but I think we all would like to be proven wrong, and eat crow if he can do it. But can he? This story doesn't inspire confidence.

9/03/2009 6:15 PM
Mr roT said...

It was all a political pose from the beginning. Obama doesn't have the moral strength to fight for what he actually believes in (and that's good--he's chickening out of the public option). To expect that he would do something unpopular and it's not even his cup of rooibos, though of course it is right, now that's pissin a rope.

9/03/2009 6:26 PM
Tecumseh said...

OK, but I think you personalize a bit too much this. Remember, there's cabinet members, Congress, the Pentagon bureaucracy, and a big chunk of the US Army involved here. (Alas, not enough of the US Air Force -- but that's another story.) In Iraq, what turned the tide was one good General, with an assist from an over-the-hill Senator. But it was also W, who made a change in policy possible at a crucial juncture. Can O prove as flexible and agile in Afghanistan? Default value: no. But p>0, still.

9/03/2009 7:58 PM
Tecumseh said...

Looking back at the rest of Peters' column, I see that he addresses my air power point:

The Taliban wants to deny us the use of our airpower -- and we fell for it. Unable to think beyond the last century's counterinsurgency theories, McChrystal severely restricted air and indirect fire support to our troops.

Shit! Why, oh, why? I say, let's get back to the flyboys, and let them handle things. Coanda rulz!

9/03/2009 8:09 PM
Mr roT said...

In Iraq, what turned the tide was one good General, with an assist from an over-the-hill Senator.

Nope. W went against everyone else though. It was not flexibility. It was strength of character, conviction, faith, and being right.

This ain't math, Tecs, where you think something for a while and then you see an example and then you dump your old point of view in one second.

You didn't sacrifice thousands of lives on your old, wrong idea of how the diagram should be drawn or the way the $\lesssim$s should run, so you can abandon wrong shit easily.

9/03/2009 9:00 PM
Mr roT said...

You don't think this is a personity thing, Tecs?

Think back to a guy from Georgia that was in the WH for four hideous years. What happened next? Was Reagan smarter?

9/03/2009 9:01 PM
Tecumseh said...

Reading is essential, Mr Rot. I didn't say this is not a personality thing, but rather, "you personalize a bit too much this". Far as I know, we're not a banana republic (at least, not yet). There's a whole bunch of players in a big thing like the Afghanistan war. Let's hope (against hope?) that some smart thinking is still possible at this stage. No?

9/03/2009 9:53 PM
Mr roT said...

Obama is the president. Banana republic or not, he's the CiC and the military have to obey him, unlike in a Banana republic where the military's in charge.

Mullen wants a million troops, Obama can take half of what he's got and put them in community organizing stateside.

No Brit or German or US general can change his mind and with it the fate of the Afghans.

Simple as that.

So do you trust him not to screw this up?

9/04/2009 3:36 AM

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