George Will suggested last week that President Obama's self-referential speech on behalf of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics may lead to his being known as the "vain" president. Maybe, but worse things have been said about a president and probably will be if Obama declines to send substantially more troops to Afghanistan and rejuvenate his counterinsurgency strategy. He'll be called a "weak" president. And the label will stick.

A weak president is vulnerable, politically and otherwise. In Jimmy Carter's case, being seen as weak in dealing with Iran and the Soviets was a major factor in his defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980. Americans don't like pushovers, especially pushover presidents. Obama is at risk of becoming a pushover.

Afghanistan is his test. Public support for the war has fallen sharply this year, especially among Democrats. And Obama's liberal base is pushing him to rebuff General Stanley McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan, and scale back the war effort. Reversing course on a critical issue of national security because of domestic politics--that's an act of pure weakness.

At the same time, Obama will create another problem for himself should he spurn McChrystal's request for up to 60,000 additional troops to carry out the very strategy the president adopted in March and reaffirmed as recently as August. Rejection will alienate the uniformed military, and they are more popular than the president. When the Pentagon is hostile territory, the president suffers.

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Face it, TB.. the world has spoken. See MaryAnne's wonderful Bennet cartoon (Chattanooga paper) in her most recent post. The Nobel award just rejected Dubya and the NeoCons quite completely.. in all their policies and manifestations. PERIOD. So I guess that would include you, too???

As for Afghanistan, you ARE aware that every large power in history has failed to pacify or unify the Aghanis, don't you? Why on earth should we suppose we'd do better than Alexander.. or the Seleucids.. or the Romans... or the Persians.. or the Moghuls.. or the Mongols.. or the Huns... or the Czarist Russians.. or the Brits.. or the Soviets??

Pashtuns make Victor Charlie look like pussies.

Shepjack

..............................­.......

From Rudyard Kipling..

When you're left like a dog on Afghanistan's plains

And the women come out to cut up what remains,

Then Roll to your rifle,

And Blow out your brains,

And go to your Gawd like a soldier ( Soldier of the Queen).

Our national security has absolutely nothing to do with being able to "win" in Afghanistan other than the fact that if we keep going as we're going, we'll wind up like the old Soviet Union. Of course the poppy fields are doing better than ever. There are those who are making a lot of money off of that. With all of the photos that I've seen with our soldiers watching the Afghans harvesting their fields with no interference from us, we don't seem to consider the increase in drug use as a problem. We just want to finish building those pipelines.

Boltlady:

Our national security has absolutely nothing to do with being able to "win" in Afghanistan other than the fact that if we keep going as we're going, we'll wind up like the old Soviet Union. Of course the poppy fields are doing better than ever. There are those who are making a lot of money off of that. With all of the photos that I've seen with our soldiers watching the Afghans harvesting their fields with no interference from us, we don't seem to consider the increase in drug use as a problem. We just want to finish building those pipelines.

I guess you didn´t know where bin Laden had refuge and made American Killing training camps prior to 9/11. I guess you thing that the attacks on American soil had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, bin Laden and his Taliban protection?

Did you hear about the number of American soldiers and other forces being slaughtered in Afthanistan within the past two deadliest months of an 8 year war in Afghanistan? Was Obama talking shit when he declared winning in Afghanistans is critical to America´s national security? He talks shit a lot, so what do you say to that?

I don´t have to guess on this one... you´ll always be a dumb ass.

women an' children. He wants to EAT DEAD BURNT BODIES.. an' get VEINS in his TEETH.

SHRINK, he wants to KILL!! KILL!!! KILLL!

(apologies to Arlo Guthrie.. but it did seem a point , yes??)

Shepjack

So where was our boy when we were doing all that in rhe Nam?? Or in the First GULF War?

Just sayin'

SHepjack

It's a shame that our troops are there and having to die so that we can build that pipeline. .................... "I guess you thing that the attacks on American soil had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, bin Laden and his Taliban protection?"......This is true.

Boltlady you are know well on this forum for two things. You hate Jews and you love conspiracy theories.

Both are borderline insanity.

Wrong on insanity. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over thinking the results will be different!

Such as backing Republicans. If you have not learned that in the last 30 years,you never wiil,and that my Son is,"Insanity!"

IMHO, Bolt does NOT hate Jews. She despises Zionists.

And so do I, BTW.

Try to understand, wuckfit... it IS EASY.

"Jew" is either an ethnicity, a religion, or a race, depending on your point of view. Jews, like all other Homo sapiens, come in all flavours.

"Zionist" is form of insanity endemic to Jews, NeoCons, and the FAR-Right American Christian Fundamentalist Movement... sort of like "NAZI" is endemic to stupid Germans, skinheads, and crackers.

ShepJackJuanito (his daddy's folks were Jews but not Zionists).

I have no problem with Jews as Jews, no matter which flavor except when it comes to zionists. I do really despise the zionists. ........................ As for conspiracy theories, well most EVERYTHING is a conspiracy for one side or the other. You just look at the facts as you know them and pick which fits.

We all do,Boltlady.Those of us who really see the truth. And many of your so called Conspiracy theories have been right on the mark.

Like the PNAC/NeoCon conspiracy to get us into a needless war in Iraq? Or the Wall Street conspiracy to milk the Stimulus for every dime they could get? Or the Pug conspiracy to convince everyone that the MSM were LEFTIES? Or the Insurance Cartel's conspiracy to scare the shit out of old ladies by lying about Death Panels??

I guess conspiracies are more intrigueing fun when they are unproven, hunh?

Or maybe it's just a matter of semantics: like, umm.. "Evolution is just a THEORY, not a FACT". The PNAC COnspiracy is just a Theory, not a Fact... tell that to HOW MANY DEAD IRAQIS???

Semantically speaking, I say the Far Right Wing is absofuckinlooootely bankrupt of ethical qualm.

Shepjack

The Theory of Evolution
Charles Darwin

What is that second word there?? AND that is ALL that it is-----a theory!!!

So is electromagnetism.. and gravity.. and particle physics. But they make bpmbs and radios and bridges and airplanes that work. Evolutionary theory makes drugs and therapies and cures and explanations and predictions that work. All sammee sameee.

Get a clue, caveman.. science is NOT so easy that even a caveman can do it.

Shepjack

Oh gawd, you mean the world isn't flat?!?!?!?!?