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October 10, 2009

Will president uphold promises?

President Obama took office in February, confidently promising to set straight America’s misguided military strategy.

The war against our nation’s enemies was mistakenly, said Obama, being waged in Iraq. Obama made it clear that his chosen battlefield would be Afghanistan. What’s more, he made the case that the U.S. could not afford to suffer a defeat in the region.

The president followed through quickly, shifting more U.S. combat personnel to Afghanistan. He also appointed Gen. Stanley McChrystal to oversee this growing, and according to the president, vital U.S. military campaign.

So what has happened?

Clearly the war against Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan region has not gone as smoothly as the president hoped. The commander in chief also may have lost focus — maintaining rare contact with his hand-picked general, even as the situation on the ground deteriorated.

But war, true to its nature, will not be ignored.

President Obama, the conqueror of Oslo, must decide soon if his warlike utterances on the campaign trail were just political hogwash, or if the interests of the U.S. really demand a stability in Afghanistan (and much more importantly, neighboring Pakistan) which can be purchased only with the continuing financial and human cost to the United States.

Gen. McChrystal has made his needs clear. To provide less support would repudiate everything Obama has said up until this point. If the president has reversed his thinking, or simply lacks the nerve of a wartime president, then he needs to begin the orderly withdrawal of our combat forces.

American servicemen and women should not be put in harm’s way if their commander in chief is not committed to winning a fight they may be asked to die in.



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