Since he's become president, rather than act as a leader, President Obama's first resort has been to whine, complain and blame others. The latest revelations from Bob Woodward's book provide more confirmation of the lack of leadership at the top. While running for president, Obama had all sorts of criticism for George Bush's war strategy. You might have thought that he'd take office knowing what he wanted to accomplish, with a plan ready to carry out. Instead, as Dick Cheney accurately pointed out, Obama spent months dithering over what to do in Afghanistan.
Woodward's book reveals -- as many people had already observed -- that Obama didn't have the slightest idea what to do in Afghanistan, other than a vague notion of getting out as fast as possible. Obama's main "plan" was simply to "limit U.S. involvement and provide a way out," despite repeatedly bashing Bush for not putting enough emphasis on the war there. But even though he just wanted to run away, as most people suspected, he lacked the competence and leadership to force through some sort of exit strategy. According to Woodward's account, he allowed himself to be bullied by his military advisers against his own wishes. Instead of ordering them to come up with an exit plan, he was reduced to fighting a rear guard action aimed at limiting an increase in U.S. forces in the country. That's how we got to the typical political half-measure: an Afghan surge with less troops than the military wanted.
Read the article for yourself and remember that this man is supposed to be commander-in-chief, not a community organizer conducting negotiations with slumlords over the latest rent increases.
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