It’s now Obama’s war
As cliched as it is, it’s true: the most difficult decision any president must make is whether to send American men and women to war. President Obama has made his decision, according to The Washington Post; he will give Gen. Stanley McChrystal about 34,000 additional troops.
The new deployments, along with 22,000 troops he authorized early this year, would bring the total U.S. force in Afghanistan to more than 100,000, more than half of which will have been sent to the war zone by Obama.
The president also plans to ask NATO and other partners in an international coalition to contribute 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, officials said. The combined U.S. and NATO deployments would nearly reach the 40,000 requested last summer by U.S. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the coalition commander in Afghanistan, as part of an intensified counterinsurgency strategy.
Dick Cheney is still popping off, inappropriately, claiming that Obama projects “weakness.” That comes from a vice-president who helped squander the nation’s prestige and resources for the sake of a lie. Cheney has zero credibility.
At the very least, I can expect Obama to look squarely at the American people (and his audience of cadets) and tell us the truth about this war.
But will that be enough? I have my doubts about the president’s decision to up the ante in Afghanistan, a benighted, impoverished and fractured nation. (It’s hardly a nation at all.) Its government is corrupt, so we don’t have a credible partner. And many experts believe that the presence of American troops so aggravates the locals that they are more likely to side with the Taliban.
I’ll be listening intently to the president’s speech tonight to see how he deals with those facts.
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90 comments Add your comment
Turd Feguson
December 1st, 2009
7:33 am
LOL…When a president globe-trotts, launches then pursues an apology tour then yes he project weakness. Obobo is seen as weak because he is weak. His attempts to please everyone actually please no one.
Obobo cant tell the truth about this war as he doesnt know it or doesnt want to know.
“And many experts believe that the presence of American troops so aggravates the locals that they are more likely to side with the Taliban.”
Absolutely…there is no way we could win due to the corruption of the local people. They want the Taliban then their wishes should be respected.
Pull out all troops NOW, be sure to steal all the Heroin and bring it home to the USA!!
jt
December 1st, 2009
7:49 am
“Cheney has zero credibility.”
As opposed to Obama?
Right.
Peadawg
December 1st, 2009
7:55 am
“It’s now Obama’s war”
While it at it, how about this as well:
It’s now Obama’s deficit since he keeps adding to it
TnGelding
December 1st, 2009
7:56 am
It’s been his war since the first “adjustment.” It’s a fool’s errand. Why does every president suddenly turn into Mighty Mouse? Let’s hope he’s strong enough to see it through, like Clinton did with Serbia, since he has sentenced hundreds of more to a needless death.
Turd Feguson
December 1st, 2009
7:33 am
And you project strength and quality citizenship? Just can’t get over that he kicked GOP butt, can you?
TnGelding
December 1st, 2009
7:59 am
Peadawg
December 1st, 2009
7:55 am
It takes a while to right a sinking ship. The debt will always be the Gypper’s and the Ivy League Cowboy’s.
Peadawg
December 1st, 2009
8:02 am
When Obama is done w/ all this in 4 years, people will forget all about Bush.
Carter is a Fool
December 1st, 2009
8:05 am
Cynthia, you project ZERO credibility, but you never really were in the credibility business.
I agree that it is now his war. It is also HIS DEFICIT.
Robert
December 1st, 2009
8:12 am
Cynthia, you will never admit it, but Dick Cheney’s assessment of this president is the truth. The polls are showing that America is quickly coming to the same conclusion. The world apology tour hasn’t worked, and his assertion that talking to our enemies hasn’t helped at all. In fact, things are worse! Look at the recent developments in Iran. What improvements have we seen since becoming president? He has dithered too long to make this decision. I truly believe he was holding off so that he could study what the political outcome would be instead of just doing the right thing and sending the number of troops McChrystal requested for the surge 3 months ago. After all, he is first and foremost a politician. Bush may not have been popular with many people, but at least he stuck by his convictions and didn’t care about polls. Of course, there will always be a segment of this society that will support Obama and all of his bad decisions until the end. Remember how the voters in Washington D.C. elected Marion Barry as mayor, even after he was caught smoking crack in a cheap hotel room with a prostitute? This loyalty to him is similar, except what Obama is doing is killing America, instead of himself.
Scott
December 1st, 2009
8:33 am
Hmmm, Cheney says Obama is weak. Was he referring to Obama’s looking out for the terrorist’s best interest (instead of the victims) in moving the 9/11 terror trial to New York? Was he referring to the very low bows in front of Middle East dictators and more recently the Japanese? Do you think he could have been thinking about how Obama jetted around the world apologizing for the previous administration? Could he have been thinking about his indeciseveness on making a decision on sending more troops, even when the surge worked in Iraq and his trusted general has recommended it? Could he have remembered how Obama talked tough about China in his campaign, yet he has done nothing to improve that situation and gets nothing from them on his trip? Could Cheney be thinking about how Obama has for months now repeatedly “warned of consequences” to Iran, but never follows through with the “consequences”. Our biggest enemy Iran surely thinks he is weak and just announced their plans to start up more nuclear plants. Israel thinks he is weak, and his approval rating is 4% over there. Bush and Cheney understood how important our relationship is with England, our strongest ally. Obmam has brushed them off, even to the point of ignoring the prime Minister at the UN summit. The hypocrisy is unbelievable. I keep hearing people talk about how brilliant he is. What has he done that has been smart for this country? Why exactly is he so smart? He wrote a couple of books? What?
Robert
December 1st, 2009
8:49 am
It’s not just Obama,even the security at the White House is weak!
Chris Broe
December 1st, 2009
8:53 am
Cynthia, you are about to be dismayed by our president. Healthcare will pass only if he continues the Bush Doctrine in Afghanistan. Expect familiar slogans tonight like “the surge”, “over there not here”, “Hearts and minds”, “ally in the war on terror”, “self sustained, able to defend itself” and every knuckleheaded utterance that tortured our common sense for the past eight years.
There was a deal made. We get Rx reform. The Saudis get the defense contracts extended in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Cheney wins again.
As a journalist, Cynthia, where is your report on Blackwater after they were banned from Iraq? What has happened? What is the profile of the average Blackwater milita man?
Fox just reported that the Geiko Gecko has canceled Tiger Woods’s auto insurance policy. (The money he could be saving saw the whole thing.)
Davo
December 1st, 2009
8:55 am
“At the very least, I can expect Obama to look squarely at the American people (and his audience of cadets) and tell us the truth about this war”
Why don’t you kill the suspense for me, Tucker…what is the ‘truth about this war’? I’m dying to know what the justification for all this remote-control killing is.
Reality Bites
December 1st, 2009
9:05 am
7 stories Obama doesn’t want told
By: John F. Harris
November 30, 2009 05:45 AM EST
Here are seven storylines Obama needs to worry about:
He thinks he’s playing with Monopoly money
Too much Leonard Nimoy
That’s the Chicago Way
He’s a pushover
He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe
President Pelosi
He’s in love with the man in the mirror
Chris Broe
December 1st, 2009
9:06 am
AP sources: Four british sailors wandered into Iranian territory and are now prisoners. What is it about Iran’s borders that western hikers keep violating it? Where they Jihad Crashing? Like at the white house dinner party? The sailors weren’t invited, nor were those other guys who got caught. They do have amazing photos of themselves being tortured by the mujahadine, though.
What is going on? I’d like to go to Iran so I can heckle the “death to america” chanters. In Farci, “The jihad blows” sounds similar to “death to america”. I bet I could get a whole crowd to put the accent on the wrong syllable by using a bullhorn and a Tickle Me Elmo to project that high-pitched shrill they use to brown nose the mullahs.
Chris Broe
December 1st, 2009
9:11 am
Fox News is now chanting: “What is the mission of US troops in Afghanistan”.
They must have forgot what Cheney kept murmuring about what it was for eight years.
Chris Broe
December 1st, 2009
9:15 am
Cheney displayed poor sportsmanship when he left office in january. Remember how he practically waved his fist at America and predicted another 911?
If Cheney is right, then he will be our Winston Churchill, and he’ll be drafted as our president. No, wait, that would violate the two-term limit he’s already served as our commander-in-chief, darn.
This is the liberal socialist FDR’s fault.
Common Sense
December 1st, 2009
9:21 am
Robert:
Those two knuckleheads went through the same physical security as everyone else that night.
There’s blame to go around and here is the actual problem:
“One way or another,” King said, “the committee has to find out from the White House what happened, what their role was, and why for the first time in years — maybe in history — there was no one from the White House Social Secretary’s office or staff at the security check point.” according to the LA Times.”
Congressional hearings start Thrusday. This should be interesting.
DAVID
December 1st, 2009
9:23 am
OBAMA is already waving the WHITE flag of EXITing…….OBAMA is our Neville Chamberlain……the appeaser.
El Jefe
December 1st, 2009
9:26 am
At the very least, I can expect Obama to look squarely at the American people (and his audience of cadets) and tell us the truth about this war.
You have got to be kidding!
The truth from a politician – that is counterintuitive.
I am still waiting for this President to stand up and take responsibility for anything. He is the President, he is the man in charge (or so we think). All decisions are his to make, approve or consider.
Of course, it only took him a few months to make this one. Between the golf, and the globe trotting the kowtowing to foreign leaders, the apologies and the normal idiot remarks any President makes.
I am glad to see he has finally made a decision – oh, wait, he didn’t – he had to convene War Councils to tell him which way to go, he still is an indecisive dolt.
DAVID-.....AJC's Truth Detector
December 1st, 2009
9:27 am
OBAMA has to appease his WHITE flag,waving…, anti-WAR left……his base of support.
Common Sense
December 1st, 2009
9:28 am
Ms. Tucker:
Here’s what’s sad.
If a Republican were in office right now doing the “very same thing” Obama is doing regarding this war, you would be going absolutely ballistic (no pun intended) in your threads.
ken ross
December 1st, 2009
9:30 am
If you believe that Obama will tell the truth tonight then I have a bridge to sell you. He has made several campaign promises and hasn’t kept any.
I am totally amazed that educated people keep believing him, especially journalists.
Whatever happened to objective journalism?
Albert C.
December 1st, 2009
9:46 am
Truth is not a commodity that always serves political ends; esssentially, the demand that politicians always be truthful is an invention of late ninetenth and twentieth century journalists. Politicians up until these times were not burdened by having every decision vetted in the daily opinion pages and later challenged as having been “untruthful.” Will the President be truthful tonight? If it serves the interests of the U.S. for him to be untruthful, then I hope he lies. That’s called “realpolitik.”
mike
December 1st, 2009
10:02 am
It’s your war too, Cynthia. When you, along with the rest of the hyper-partisan liberal pundits, talked about how important Afghanistan was. Of course, this was cynical posturing on your part and apparently you (like Obama) never considered that things might deteriorate there and more troops would be required. Your cynicism shows as you change your position.
Maybe you should spend less time “popping off” on the matter, as your interest clearly does extend beyond cynical and partisan motivations.
Joan
December 1st, 2009
10:08 am
Wow. It has all been said in the above posts. Obama is a total loser. We need to position ourselves to declare victory and withdraw. The victory would be in lives saved all around–maybe not Afghan lives, but who cares about them anyway–I mean really. They don’t care about their own lives, but then who would–why would anyone care to live out a life on a rock pile, not to mention the plight of the enslaved and abused women. We will never free the women in Afghanistan no matter what we do. Time to declare victory and get out.
Real
December 1st, 2009
10:19 am
So, set the counter for how many times tonight PresBO says “I” instead of “we”, and “the sky is falling” (yet again)…
Johnny
December 1st, 2009
10:20 am
Conan O’Brien for president 2012
Ward
December 1st, 2009
10:22 am
During the campaign, Obama talked tough about Afghanistan. Once he had to actually make a decision, he waffled on it for 3 months, just like the bureaucrat he is. The moral? It’s a lot easier to give flowery speeches than it is to actually lead. For better or worse, even George understood it was his JOB to be ‘the Decider’. Obama is still grasping at that concept.
HDB
December 1st, 2009
10:25 am
Wow…such hatred for a man who’s trying to right the American course! Everyone looks for a quick solution; there isn’t one….won’t be one!! Obama is making DELIBERATE decisions…rather than the knee-jerk moves of Bush! I’m glad to see him take the time to make the necessary decisions of state!! For those here who think Bush did what was necessary, answer these:1) Why didn’t he capture bin Laden?? 2) Why did the bin Laden leave the US under PRESIDENTIAL authority when US airspace was closed? 3) Why wasn’t Cheney investigated for his Halliburton influence for the no-bid contracts issued by the government? 4) Why wasn’t Bush investigated for his bin Laden connections in the Carlyle Group and Arbusto….and the subsequent payments therein to allow the bin Laden family to leave the US??
Big D
December 1st, 2009
10:28 am
CT, He is going to look squarely at the teleprompter and tell his lies in a speech written by someone else. This joker scares me worse than that idiot “Jimma Cata” and the Arkansas molester.
Atlanta_Tiger_Fan
December 1st, 2009
10:29 am
Obama is on track to become worst president in U.S. history!! Hopefully voters in the future will vote for a candidate based on their experience and not their skin color!!!!
HDB
December 1st, 2009
10:37 am
@TigerFan: Obama wasn’t elected because of his skin color; he was elected because he was the best option for the nation. McCain was not the right person for the job….and I surely wouldn’t allow Sarah Palin to be THAT close to power!!
Big D
December 1st, 2009
10:46 am
HDB, That’s just stupid.
Redneck
December 1st, 2009
10:56 am
HDB, I will refer you to the Zogby poll taken right after the election that found that 67% of the Obama voters were complete idiots when it came to knowledge of our political system and the primary players. He was elected because of his color and the deadbeats thought he was going to take care of them even better than they were being cared for at the time. Remember the Obama voter who say “I won’t have to worry about my house or car payment anymore now that Obama is president.” Can you say idiot?
Rafe Hollister
December 1st, 2009
10:59 am
Zero Credibility= I am going to close Gitmo, I am going to have a transparent presidency, I am going to work with Republicans, I am going to get us out of Iraq, I will employ no lobbyist in my Admin, I will balance the budget in ? years (? depending on who he was talking to), etc. And your other point was?
Goldie
December 1st, 2009
11:03 am
Our President is in a no-win situation, thanks to the fallout from Bush-Cheney — and we’ll see if the American voters decide to take another losing gamble on hiring a Repub back in the White House for 2012!
jyugf
December 1st, 2009
11:10 am
i second that opinion on all HDB posts. halliburton has always had a no bid contract with the government to supply their services all over the world. bush/bin laden connection was investigated by the best and brightest liberal bush haters to no avail.
Chris Broe
December 1st, 2009
11:20 am
Fox just reported that the Geico Gecko has cancelled Tiger Wood’s auto insurance policy. The money he could be saving saw the whole thing.
DAVID-.....AJC's Truth Detector
December 1st, 2009
11:22 am
Cynthia……..U-R-CLUELESS…
Will
December 1st, 2009
11:26 am
Why would anyone think republicans or democrats hold an upper hand on leadership as opposed to partisan political gain……………
Republicans have argued that, among the many reasons that health care reform should be rejected, legitimate polling reveals that the American public does not support health care reform. Democrats say that they do not make policy decisions from polls.
Democrats are uncertain about supporting President Obama’s decision to send more soldiers to Afghanistan and often point to polling results showing less than a majority supporting this surge. Republicans say that foreign policy should not be made based on polling results.
And the band plays on………..
Elder Spokesman
December 1st, 2009
11:30 am
Cynthia, The comment about Cheney stuffed into this piece diminishes your statements about our President. There is no justification for the Chaney comment except to distract your readers from responding to the main thrust of your piece.
Poor Excuse for a President
December 1st, 2009
11:39 am
Don’t expect Nobama to “tell the truth” or even give extensive details about the war in Afghanistan – he can’t because he doesn’t know anything. He is the most ill-prepared occupant of the White House in history. He has failed to convince even his supporters that he is capable of leadership – he has done nothing substantial in 11 months of holding office and appears to have no concrete plans for anything. His lack of private sector experience and advice are biting him in the azz. We’re headed toward disaster that I’m afraid we will never be able to recover from.
Strong Black Woman
December 1st, 2009
11:47 am
“If you believe that Obama will tell the truth tonight then I have a bridge to sell you. He has made several campaign promises and hasn’t kept any.
I am totally amazed that educated people keep believing him, especially journalists.”
A politician is a politician no matter what “party” he’s in. I’m totally amazed that educated people continue to believe in PARTISANSHIP.
I had HOPE that Obama would be different and CHANGE the way things were going, but clearly it was all talk. He’s now made bad on the one promise that garnered him my vote, bringing the troops home. It’s disappointing really but not surprising at all.
Still unwilling to drink the GOP, fear-mongering koolaid though.
ck hall
December 1st, 2009
11:47 am
Who cares if you are listening intently tonight? And who cares what you think of Veep Cheney? The only thing those folks understand is military power..We will be doing the same in Iran very soon!
Strong Black Woman
December 1st, 2009
11:51 am
“Fox just reported that the Geico Gecko has cancelled Tiger Wood’s auto insurance policy. The money he could be saving saw the whole thing.”
GOLD. I love it.
And enough about “polls” people. These “polls” that ask the political opinion of 35-49 yr old whites in suburban America? How many of you bloggers were “polled”?
kayaker 71
December 1st, 2009
11:51 am
Cynthia,
How can you expect Bozo to tell the truth about Afghanistan? He has lied to the American people so much that the majority of thinking Americans don’t trust him to do much of anything. And it has taken him 3 mos to make his “decision”. Meanwhile, American service men/women are dying on the battlefield while he stalls about decision making to appease his liberal base. Cheney doesn’t have to say that Bozo is weak and ill equipped to be our president. Just ask any international leader. He is a sham, an empty suit and a sorry excuse for the leader of the free world. Why are you having so much trouble accepting that?
Strong Black Woman
December 1st, 2009
11:56 am
Here we go with the skin color debacle, you clowns insist on bringing race into the picture all while proclaiming “none of this is about race!” What was that about idiots??
For every person that voted for Obama because of his race, there were 10 more who voted AGAINST him all the same. Nevertheless, whites are to thank that he is in office. You wingnuts will have your chance to put another puppet (a white one, if it’ll make you feel safer) in office in 2012. Until then, shut up.
Rickster
December 1st, 2009
11:56 am
Cynthia, on which “Lie” did Cheney & Bush squander the nation’s prestige and resources? The so-called “uranium” lie? Bush quoted “British Intelligence” saying that Iraq sought to buy uranium. (Which, by the way, turned out to be true.)
The truth is… Bush needed no “excuse” to go after Saddam. There was never a surrender in the first Gulf War. Iran signed a cease-fire, in which it agreed to certain conditions in order to prevent the resumption of hostilities. They had long flaunted/disregarded those conditions.
Bush had every right to resume hostilities against Iraq.
Any statement to the contrary is a lie. And you, Cynthia, have no credibility.
Robert
December 1st, 2009
11:57 am
It is obvious that most of the people here commenting think he is weak and indecisive, just like Cheney said. However, the few that support this president’s decision have nothing to argue for, other than still trying to blame the bush/cheney administration. I would like to hear their argument that he is a good president by stating concrete facts about how he isn’t driving our country into the ground. I know it isn’t all his fault, we do have a democratic majority in the house and senate that has also made very poor decisions.
Big D
December 1st, 2009
12:06 pm
If you IDIOTS in the MAINSTREAM press had done one half the investigating on Obie-one that you have done on Bush,Cheney and Palin( oh and by the way THERE WAS NOTHING THERE)and had the balls to report it, you would have known he had no back ground for being a President. When this dribbler is done we will have a long row to hoe.