One of the reasons why Obama may be hesitating to commit fully to a renewed Afghan front is that he is worried that political opportunists might seek to gain advantage by loud rhetoric that unfairly simplifies the bad and worse choices, that he, like all other presidents in time of war, are confronted with.

In other words, he fears someone very much like an on-the-rise Barack Obama himself — who in 2007 in loud fashion demanded that all combat brigades leave Iraq by March 2008 and then flat-out declared to the nation that "the surge is not working" (a mantra for months posted on his website until Trotskyized in summer 2008). Ditto all that with Guantanamo, elements of homeland security, and Iran — and one can see that Obama knows first-hand the opportunities for demagogic and unprincipled political ankle-biting that a decisive wartime president invites. After all, what president, after making a tough decision to surge into Afghanistan, wants a young charismatic rival barnstorming the nation, without evidence assuring the public that "the surge is not working!"

You cons were all on board for Junior's eight year Afghanistan clusterfuck experience, so I'm assuming that y'all will be doing the same for Obama. Right? It's "war", right?

Wouldn't want you cons, odemoma, to have to suffer under the tag of being anti-war scumbags while this nation is technically fighting two of them at the same time.

Oooh! And being critical of the president at a time of war (ala Hannity) is unamerican as can be.

Yeah.

Well, everything you say is true, of course. You are describing politics.

Here's another part of politics. Had McCain or another Republican won the White House, he would have a much easier time of getting us out of both Afghanistan and Iraq because he would not have to deal with Republicans calling him "weak on terror," "in league with Al Queda" and so forth for cynical partisan reasons. Heck, if a Republican president was for burning puppies alive in the Rose Garden the Republicans would support him, and mock Democrats' criticisms as being "weak on strays."

At this time in history you are not going to find principled conservatives in power. They are not welcome.

so you think the surge worked.

i don't.

we paid off the sunni tribal leaders and that is what worked.

now that we are no longer paying them off the violence has escalated.

if you think the surge worked i encourage you to take a vacation in bagdad soon.