Obama told us throughout the 2008 campaign that Afghanistan was the war we should be fighting. The conflict where we supposedly took our eyes off the ball (even though Bush handed control over to NATO long ago, as the left wanted) and the conflict where most of our resources should go to. So he becomes President and nominated McChrystal to head it up and sent over 21,000 more troops.
He then told McChrystal that his mission was to destroy the Taliban.
Then he forgot all about Afghanistan as he pursued his Socialist utopian dreams for this country.
Well, McChrystal took that mission he was given seriously….but apparently shouldn’t have:
In June, McChrystal noted, he had arrived in Afghanistan and set about fulfilling his assignment. His lean face, hovering on the screen at the end of the table, was replaced by a mission statement on a PowerPoint slide: “Defeat the Taliban. Secure the Population.”
“Is that really what you think your mission is?” one of the participants asked.
In the first place, it was impossible — the Taliban were part of the fabric of the Pashtun belt of southern Afghanistan, culturally if not ideologically supported by a major part of the population. “We don’t need to do that,” Gates said, according to one participant. “That’s an open-ended, forever commitment.”
But that was precisely his mission, McChrystal responded, enshrined in the Strategic Implementation Plan — the execution orders for the March strategy, written by the NSC staff.
“I wouldn’t say there was quite a ‘whoa’ moment,” a senior defense official said of the reaction around the table. “It was just sort of a recognition that, ‘Duh, that’s what in effect the commander understands he’s been told to do.’ Everybody said, ‘He’s right.’”
“It was clear that Stan took a very literal interpretation of the intent” of the NSC document, said Jones, who had signed the orders himself. “I’m not sure that in his position I wouldn’t have done the same thing, as a military commander.” But what he created in his assessment “was obviously something much bigger, and more longer-lasting . . . than we had intended.”
Obama lectured us continually on how important Afghanistan is and told his commander to defeat the enemy….but didn’t really mean it. He basically said “Yeah, I said defeat, but you took the word “defeat” too literally. I just want to make sure it doesn’t make me look bad for 2012.”
Half measures will not win in this war….but apparently that’s all Obama has in his repertoire.
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Hey, come on, give him a break. How is he supposed to remember all this stuff? He is only one man. It was only campaign rhetoric.
Please, he is working on that great golf swing. He’s a natural.
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And meanwhile, back in Chicago, there was a llittle “happenstance” burglary at Blagojevich’s lawyers’ office. They just took six computers which stored defense information in Blago’s corruption case. The police deputy supt. says somebody just wanted to make a quick buck selling some computers. Yeah, sure!
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/computers-with-blagojevich-evidence-stolen-from-lawfirm.html
“Is that really what you think your mission is?” Of course, it’s possible that Obama himself is the one who said that. Sounds like the stupid was distributed fairly evenly in the room, though.
According to Jim Jones, Obama put a full 25 hours into this decision and used up 9 or 10 hours on one day after Thanksgiving. Wonder if Mr. Jones is aware of how many hours date nites, golf and parties are gobbling up….what to say….got it, Obama’s war planning is “unprecedented!” they sure like that word, they really do.
This from that barfy NYTimes piece Peter Baker wrote yesterday:
He first dithered, now we’re surging, he just wants to get it over so he can wash his hands of it preferably before his 2012 campaign.
Oh – that NYT’s article is funny. Why does he pretend that he is all knowing?
What can he possibly know about fighting a war? I don’t know if the Times wants the readers to think he is bright, or what. Frankly, I would have thought more of the guy had it said he stepped back and observed. He is so comical.
This attitude is a dangerous one for the President to express, let alone his staff and that of the Congress and Senate. Failure to understand the enemy’s ideals and agenda is rather apparent in the current leadership and just as before will fester and let grow a new series of threats onto America that will spawn years down the road. Apparently losing two monolithic icons of the United States’ achivements was not enough to sober these minds up that the previous Admistration had to make exteremly tough political calls be it public alienation and political assaults by opponents. Do we have to lose a city block, a village, a town, a city, or a metropolis like New York City by extreme violence (well after we’ve withdrawn from military theaters) to shock these eejets to the fact the enemy wants us dead?
Mission in progress regardless of what that Political Moron Jimmy Jones wants to believe.
Retired Generals should stay Retired and STFU unless recalled to Active Duty in UNIFORM.
He’s just another overly ambitious idiot like Wes Clark that almost got Us in a shooting War with the Russians in Bosnia and bombed the Chinese Embassy. Jones Commands NOTHING. He is just Obama’s Houseboy now. Believe it.
@Old Trooper:
If Jones is even half as bad as Clark, we’re in worse trouble than I thought.
tfhr, He appears to be Wes Clark in Marine Corps Blue. I was there with SFOR while Clark was there. Clark was dangerous. Marines that I have listened to tell me that Jones had similar ambitions and was a politician is uniform, not a Marine.
@ Old Trooper –
I think I get con thinking now: “Obama should listen to the generals” . . . unless they actually join his administration; in which case, there are nothing but “politicians” and idiots, according to a friend of Old Troopers, in which case they should be ignored.
That’s clear as mud . . . God, I am glad you people are not calling the shots on anything important. Thanks God that the U.S. voters saw the light in 2008 and rid us of these moronic conservatives — all thinking, all knowing, ever-criticizing harpies who, when given the chance to manage government, gave us that incompetent Katrina response, the Iraq invasion with too few men and faulty equipment, and a ballooning deficit when their predecessor handed them a budget surplus.
Cheney is going to lecture about weakening America? Friggin’ Cheney? Are you people serious?
In fact . . . why would anyone take advice from you folks? That would be like taking safe driving tips from someone who lost their license after a fifth accident in four years.
Time for Old Trooper to swat flies again.
Thanks, God that idiots that voted this regime in are seeing the light!
Rob you’ve missed the point entirely.
If you go back and actually READ, you will notice that the “men” in that room had no idea what they had commaded the general to do. AGAIN: He was doing EXACTLY what he was told to do, even if this ADMINISTRATION had “forgotten” what they told him back in MARCH. Maybe Jimmy-boy should actually KNOW what plan the active-duty general they gave the job to, was pursuing BEFORE the meeting started….(ya know…the one they all came up with.)
Let’s review, shall we?
I get such a warm fuzzy feeling about my security, and the seriousness this administration takes in procecuting this war…(not)
Maybe instead of reacting in such a emotional and defensive manner, you could tell us of the last time you’ve heard about the entire Admin not knowing what the hell they told their top commanders’ primary mission was?…of course it WAS 9 whole months ago, so I can’t blame them too much FOR FORGETTING!!!
Like 8 pigs rootin around, tryin to figure out how to f**K a flat football.