Criticism from the left
Just as President Obama tries to rally public opinion in favor of the Afghanistan conflict, Wesley Clark compares the “good war” in Afghanistan to the Vietnam War:
The American people are growing increasingly wary. In a new CNN/Opinion research poll, fully 54% of respondents now say they oppose the U.S.-led fight against the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. Those are striking numbers, and a serious warning to the Obama administration.
The difficulty here lies less in PowerPoint presentations and more in the complexities of the war itself. Our real enemy, Al Qaeda, may now be more entrenched in Pakistan than in Afghanistan. Taking the fight directly into Pakistan with ground forces risks expanding the conflict and undercutting a fragile Pakistani civilian government.
The similarities to Vietnam are ominous. There, too, an insurgency was led and supported from outside the borders of the state in which our troops were fighting. There, too, sanctuaries across international borders stymied U.S. military efforts. There, too, broader political-strategic considerations weighed against military expansion of the conflict and forecast further struggles in the region. And there, too, American public support slid away over time as our engagement ratcheted up and casualties mounted.
And Howard Dean calls the public option in Obamacare, which President Obama has allegedly just dropped, to be “indispensable” to reform. In June Obama was God according to the elite media; now the White House seems more like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. How quickly things seem to have changed, at least for the moment.
August 18th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Re Public Option: I am not so sure it is dead yet. Suppose as part of ‘health insurance reform’, the dems set up a quasi-public insurance company to cover poor risks. The poor risks pay a percentage of their premiums and the Government picks up the balance. Eventually the spigot of government money is turned up and the number of people accepted into the program is expanded. Then the program grows and grows until it covers everyone. Sound too farfetched? Well, I have a feeble mind. Perhaps the dems can come up with something more clever, with the same end result?
August 18th, 2009 at 6:44 am
Re Afghanistan: Do we have a strategy to win in A-Stan? From my point of view it has devolved into a low grade war of attrition. A war where our troops are severely hamstrung by rules of engagement. Coupled to this is a fuzzy attempt at nation building. A concept I have never had confidence in. I see no end in sight. IMO the enemy must be convinced that if they oppose us they die. I don’t think that is the case even with the leadership decapitations. If we pull out, then the enemy ‘wins’. I don’t know the answer for Afghanistan and wonder how much longer we can continue on our present course?
August 18th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Has cautious management of a war ever really worked out for the cautious managing party. I’m really asking. I don’t remember it working out well for us. My opinion is if you are going to go to war, then win as fast as possible. That minimizes the damage to us, and better assures victory which should be job one if you’re gonna go.