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Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has always believed that politics and culture are intertwined, and uses his syndicated column to take new...
Read more about Eugene Robinson.
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has always believed that politics and culture are intertwined, and uses his syndicated column to take new...
Read more about Eugene Robinson.
Can't Split The Difference In Afghanistan
Eugene Robinson
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama didn't set out to be a "war president," but
that's what history compels him to be. The nation and the world are
fortunate that he doesn't have the reckless, ready-fire-aim mentality
of George W. Bush. But Afghanistan doesn't present the kind of "false
choices" that Obama, by nature, habitually rejects. The choices are
real and awful, and no amount of reframing and rephrasing will make
them go away.
Monday's tragic events -- 14 U.S. troops killed in helicopter crashes in Afghanistan -- remind us of the decisions Obama faces. At least he seems to recognize that he can't just let the situation drift.
But it looks as if Obama's inclination is to disappoint both hawks and doves -- and, yes, I'm consciously using Vietnam-era language. The debate over whether we stay or leave is bound to become sharper and more passionate as American casualties continue to mount.
One person who deserves no voice in that debate is Dick Cheney, who helped get us into this quagmire. By turning from Afghanistan prematurely to launch an elective, unnecessary and ill-advised invasion of Iraq, Bush and Cheney managed to turn one war we were winning into two that we were in danger of losing.
For Cheney to charge that Obama is "dithering" over sending more troops to Afghanistan, when he and Bush ignored a troop request from U.S. commanders for the better part of a year, is obscene. For Cheney to complain that Obama ought to simply accept the Bush administration's in-depth analysis of the situation in Afghanistan, rather than conduct his own careful review, is a sick joke.
That said, Afghanistan is Obama's war now. And his considerable successes in pursuing his ambitious domestic agenda teach him nothing about how to proceed.
His basic method has been to avoid drawing bright lines between mutually exclusive positions. He looks for ways to reframe issues so that what once was an either-or proposition can be transformed into a both-and scenario. On health care, for example, he set out to provide both universal coverage and long-term cost control. The legislation that now seems likely to emerge doesn't quite do either, but does some of each -- and Obama, by splitting the difference, has managed to bring us closer to meaningful, though imperfect, health care reform than we've ever been.
But the decisions presented by Afghanistan truly are either-or. Obama can decide to pursue a counterinsurgency strategy or a counterterrorism strategy. He can do one or the other -- not both. If he chooses counterinsurgency, he has to send enough troops to make that strategy work. If he doesn't want to send all those troops, he needs to pursue counterterrorism or do something else.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan who has devised the counterinsurgency strategy, is reportedly asking for 40,000 or more additional troops. Obama is right to examine the general's calculations, but it would make no sense to try to take a middle path and approve, say, a troop increase of 20,000. That would just put more Americans in harm's way without giving McChrystal the resources he says he needs. This game's been going on for eight years. It's time to raise or fold.
Obama has required members of his national security team to read "Lessons in Disaster" by Gordon Goldstein. The book is about McGeorge Bundy, one of the architects of the Vietnam War, and his late-in-life regrets at having helped drag the nation into a costly, unwinnable war. It's unclear, though, whether Obama is prepared to heed the book's central lesson.
Right now, Obama is at the key juncture: in or out. If he ratifies the counterinsurgency strategy and approves a troop increase, he'll be committing the United States to see the project through to its end. Advisers say the president's goals for "fixing" Afghanistan are realistic, even modest. To me, however, the whole enterprise looks unrealistic and immodest.
We invaded Afghanistan to ensure that the country could never again be used to launch attacks against the United States. That mission is accomplished, and our only goal should be making sure it stays accomplished -- whether the place is run by Hamid Karzai or the Taliban. The counterinsurgency campaign that Obama is contemplating looks like a step onto the slipperiest slope imaginable. It doesn't matter if the step is tentative or bold.
Sometimes a "war president" has to decide to start bringing the troops home. That's what Obama must do.
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Eugene Robinson's e-mail address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com
Copyright 2009 Washington Post Writers Group
This news arrived on: 10/27/2009
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Posted Comments:
11-01-2009 23:07
SKManning wrote:
WCM,
You're welcome! I believe that those of us who can see the truth have an moral obligation to speak the truth.
I am proud to be an American too. I don't want to live anywhere else. Unfortunately the consevative right has become so bad about lying and twisting facts and the truth. It seems to be the worst after the Bush/Cheney debacle. It is also unfortunate that there are still so many working class and middle class Republican voters who choose to believe the lies and the spin rather than learn the facts and think for themselves. They are just "Parrots of the [conservative] leaders".
You're welcome! I believe that those of us who can see the truth have an moral obligation to speak the truth.
I am proud to be an American too. I don't want to live anywhere else. Unfortunately the consevative right has become so bad about lying and twisting facts and the truth. It seems to be the worst after the Bush/Cheney debacle. It is also unfortunate that there are still so many working class and middle class Republican voters who choose to believe the lies and the spin rather than learn the facts and think for themselves. They are just "Parrots of the [conservative] leaders".
11-01-2009 01:12
WCM wrote:
SKManning,old cowboy,JCE Thanks for saying what needs to be said. The truth is simply the truth! Some of the people who post need to go back and read the history of our country. I love this country dearly and I am proud to be American. We as a nation have done many great things but we've also screwed up on more than one occasion. I was always told by my elders, that if one doesn't learn from their mistakes, their destined to make the same mistake again. I believe this is still pertinent even in today's world. Our leaders in the 80's started this bees nest in the middle east and we keep doing the wrong things til this day. The Reagan Administration created Osama bin Ladan and then left him high and dry when they were done with him. That's a fact,look it up if you don't believe it.
10-31-2009 23:48
SKManning wrote:
Old Cowboy,
You are a hero in my book because you were there in the s**t. As you know, all of you were just doing what you were told to do. I believe that all of you are heros. Combat is something that the rest of us can only imagine. You were there, you know. God Bless you. God Bless all who are put in harms way by our bulls**t politicians!
You are a hero in my book because you were there in the s**t. As you know, all of you were just doing what you were told to do. I believe that all of you are heros. Combat is something that the rest of us can only imagine. You were there, you know. God Bless you. God Bless all who are put in harms way by our bulls**t politicians!
10-30-2009 23:33
old cowboy wrote:
Thank you
I was not a marine or any kind of hero. I was drafted when my college deferrments ran out and was installed as a 90 day wonder and led some very brave men in a bad situation that none of were in by choice but we did what we were told.
10-30-2009 22:39
SKManning wrote:
To Old Cowboy... Semper Fi!. Not just Marine Corps... All Services. I have never been in the military myself (sorry)... My father, Col.,Army Corps of Engineers, Combat Engineer, Korea... My brother, Sergeant, Air Force, Aircraft Refueling, Vietnam... My brother-in-law, Army National Guard, Sergeant, Maintenence Battalion, Kosovo, Iraq... Utmost Respect!!!
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