Wednesday, December 2, 2009

5 Quick Thoughts on Obama's Afghanistan Decision

1. I hope the surge works. I'm skeptical, but maybe it will help stabilize the situation.

2. This is a typical half-measure done for political reasons. Put in more troops but less than requested, while simultaneously talking about when we might start withdrawing.

3. It's about time Obama actually made a decision. Cheney was exactly correct when he accused the president of "dithering." Nothing in the plan required the amount of time he took to make a decision. Afghan strategy should have been under review from the moment he became president, and probably even before. 

4. Obama clearly has little idea what he's doing, and inspires minimal confidence when it comes to this war. This decision is basically his best guess. Let's hope it's a good one.

5. Finally, despite my criticism of Obama, in his defense I will say that the Afghanistan situation is a real mess with no obvious good alternatives. No one should have expected him to come up with a magic bullet.

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