Lying About Afghanistan
Tonight President Obama will announce his plan to send more troops to Afghanistan. That’s probably a good thing, although, as in Iraq, what the troops do–are permitted to do–is more important than how many of them there are. But Obama’s announcement will be greeted with dismay by most Democrats. Byron York notes [...]
Does the "B" in Obama’s Plan B for Afghanistan stand for Bush?
Fresh from having taken down the “Pakistan First” option mooted by Joe Biden for dealing (or rather not dealing) with Afghanistan, the Washington Post editorial board turns its attention to the approach recently mooted by President Obama himself - maintaining current troop levels and building up the Afghan army. The Post notes [...]
Withdrawing from Afghanistan, Plus Future Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. Pinch Me, I’m Dreaming
I just heard Bill Kristol on the Hugh Hewitt show dropping a couple of political bombshells:
First, Kristol now believes for the first time that President Barack H. Obama is paving the groundwork for rejecting Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s recommendation of a COIN strategy for Afghanistan, including increasing troop levels.
Note that it was the Obamacle Himself who [...]
Susan Rice: Please Don’t Judge Our Policies Yet
“We have a crucial stake in Afghanistan,” said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., speaking at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington D.C. On this eighth anniversary of September 11th, the ambassador took aim at Nancy Pelosi’s remarks about Afghanistan when Rice said, “For us to dismiss [...]
White House Preparing to Send More Troops to Afghanistan?
At the White House press briefing today, Robert Gibbs gave the impression that there’s a good chance that Obama will send more troops to Afghanistan:
I think there’s broad agreement that for many years our effort in Afghanistan has been under-resourced politically, militarily, economically. [...]
You can’t under-resource the most important part of our war on terror, [...]
Incremental Escalation
Fox News reported yesterday:
The Pentagon is sending 1,000 more special operations forces and support staff into Afghanistan to bolster a larger conventional troop buildup, and is revamping the way Army Green Berets and other commandos work to rid villages of the Taliban.
John McCain at an FPI event on March 31:
Sen. John McCain largely applauded [...]
