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Home Front: Politix
Lets put President Barack Hussien Obama - On the SPOT
2009-10-04
By openly declaring their views on the Afghan war, US military leaders have placed President Barack Obama in a bind as he faces a fraught decision over the troubled US-led mission.

Obama has refused to quickly approve a request from his commanders for a major troop build-up in Afghanistan, insisting first on a full vetting of the current strategy.

But while a war council takes place behind closed doors at the White House, top military officers have made no secret of their view that without a vast ground force, the Afghan mission could end in failure. Rest at the title link
Or if America had any BALLS - It could tell Mr. Barry Soetoro -suck it up and fight for American interest worldwide !
Generals don't make policy, presidents do. When presidents refuse to make policy, or when they make policies that make no sense, then the military needs to educate the presidents for whom they work -- at first and almost always quietly and privately. The military never looks good for long fighting with the president. Going public with this may be useful to the military in the short term as a way to focus attention on the problem, but at some point the generals and admirals have to salute and say, "yes sir Mr. President." Or they have to resign.
Posted by:Grutle Slavith8727

#24  OOOOOPPSIES, almost forgot SAME > WAR OF WORDS OVER THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF KOGURYO [NOKOR-SOKOR both unite in anger and angst over CHINA'S hints since 2003 that Koguryo was a CHIN VASSAL TERRITORY, + an insignificant one for CHIN at that].

OOOOOOOOO, you just know Beijing won't get any Kimchee from Kimmie this year.

* SAME > IMF: EUROPE MAY SEE WEAK GROWTH FOR DECADES.

IOW GLOBAL "RECESSION" IFF NOT "DEPRESSION" DECADES LONGER THAN 1929 + THE GREAT DEPRESSION???

IMO ditto for the USA = USSA/USRoA, America = Amerika.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-10-04 21:04  

#23  OOOOOPPSIES, almost forgot SAME > WAR OF WORDS OVER THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF KOGURYO [NOKOR-SOKOR both unite in anger and angst over CHINA'S hints since 2003 that Koguryo was a CHIN VASSAL TERRITORY, + an insignificant one for CHIN at that].

OOOOOOOOO, you just know Beijing won't get any Kimchee from Kimmie this year.

* SAME > IMF: EUROPE MAY SEE WEAK GROWTH FOR DECADES.

IOW GLOBAL "RECESSION" IFF NOT "DEPRESSION" DECADES LONGER THAN 1929 + THE GREAT DEPRESSION???

IMO ditto for the USA = USSA/USRoA, America = Amerika.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-10-04 21:04  

#22  CAPTAIN CA-A-A-A-V-E-M-A-N-N-N ......

ION TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > OBAMA AIDE: IRAN NOT CLOSER TO NUCLEAR BOMB.

* SAME > TALIBAN SURGE RAISES FEAR OF FAILURE FOR THE WEST, + MUSHARAFF: PAKISTAN, US LOST TRACK OF OSAMA FIVE YEARS AGO + OBAMA ADVISER [NatSecAdv]:AFGHANISTAN IN NO DANGER OF FALLING TO TALIBAN.

* SAME > NEW BRITISH ARMY CHIEF [Sir David Richards] TERRORISTS COULD SEIZE NUCLEAR WEAPONS IFF WE [Britain-West] FAIL IN AFGHANISTAN/MILITANTS MAY EXPAND OPERATIONS OUTSIDE OF REGION.

* SAME > FBI DIRECTOR: SOMALI-BASED GROUP AL-SHABAAB [Al-Qaeda affiliate] MAT ATTACK THE US/ EXPAND OUTSIDE OF SOMALIA.


D *** NG IT, its too many Artics this early in the AM!
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-10-04 20:56  

#21  especially if the rank and file of that purged military is available to their opposition and not per se sequestered in the barracks.

The problem for the Left is, P2K, there are six million retirees between the age of 38 and 78 in the US that can still pull a trigger or rig an improvised bridge, plus some 9 million non-retired veterans who can also see the sh$$ the country is foundering in. "President" O'Bumble is just the type of thoughtless idiot that will do something to light a match to that powder keg.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2009-10-04 19:11  

#20  All Pashtuns are not Taliban but all Taliban are Pashtun. Some Pashtuns are damn good CIA. Going after the Taliban is what is necessary and Oson't do it, but the Bush Admin dropped the ball, too. The Taliban were never designated a terror org, allowing them to put pressure on the Saudi and Pak financiers and making them a legitimate target. War on the Taliban is not war on Islam, just the extremists but somehow appeasement by cowards has become official policy.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091   2009-10-04 18:53  

#19  Zero is going to do nothing but blather and mis-direct, all the while letting the losses mount and building a "public demand" to get out of Afghanistan, al la Vietnam. How do you think the troops there feel as they come to realize this? And the senior officers? Since I am certain this POS will not support the troops and strategy it takes to make an indelible memory in the jihadi's minds, its time to GTFO and harden the borders here to what follows. Save those decent American kids who deserve better than being pawns to scum that isn't fit to lick their boots, and I mean POTUS and his friends.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2009-10-04 16:24  

#18  And as for 'have to resign' - it's not that far-fetched as you think. The early signs are already there.
Posted by Pappy


30 minutes in Denmark? Sounds like an under-the-bus invitation to me.
Posted by: Besoeker in Duitsland   2009-10-04 15:43  

#17  Obama is a politician. That sounds like an obvious statement, but it's a particular problem here and now. Political skills alone make for lousy Presidents.

Obama is trying to accede to the agenda of his leftist base of support (including the press). Take for example, last night. Saturday Night Live did an opening skit on Obama; all of it was on the things he hasn't done that the Left desires. Among the top ones was leaving Afghanistan.

At the same time, Obama is supporting the realpolitik of his foreign-policy team, while trying not get his domestic agenda tossed in the trash by completely angering the rest of the electorate. Somebody with leadership skills might be able to pull it off.

Not this group. Inexperience. An administration doesn't know that their job is to support the nation, or doesn't want to. Arrogance. And an overabundance of speech, but no real communications.

And as for 'have to resign' - it's not that far-fetched as you think. The early signs are already there.
Posted by: Pappy   2009-10-04 14:00  

#16  Actually, if you really want to stop Islamic terrorism at the top, you have to deal with Saudi Arabia and the oil ticks. That is a snowball-in-hell's chance, seeing the cozy relationship between the Saudi king and the big O. Or should I say the submissive posture of the big O with respect to the Saudi king.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2009-10-04 13:25  

#15   Or they have to resign.

Yes, but put it in the column of portents and signs. When the military is way above the Beltway in confidence of the American public, the entire legitimacy of the government will come into play. The left will have to rely upon blind commitment to the icons of the old republic to keep people in place because any social revolt will reveal they have no means to keep the serfs in place, especially if the rank and file of that purged military is available to their opposition and not per se sequestered in the barracks.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-10-04 12:38  

#14  good luck Jim, been their done that.
Posted by: bman   2009-10-04 11:40  

#13  Some years ago I made a wind Turbine, I never got it aloft since I had to move (Thieves burnt my home down) but it's still in my barn un-assembled, so when I'm able to go home and build again all I have to do is buy a solar panel, erect the windmill an i won't need to connect to line power.

I'm looking forwrd to it.

Get a plug in electric car and no more gas or electric bills ever again, I know everyone can't do this, but I'm not planning to drive to anyplace over a hundred miles or so, so it's practical for me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-10-04 10:56  

#12  Not doing anything is a decision for Zero, he decided no action from his office. This is a crime. He tried to push health care in a 72 hour deadline to cram it down our throats. Not working and deciding on policy is allowing our soldiers to be at risk.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2009-10-04 10:18  

#11  ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM> BILL CLINTON: INDIA, PAKISTAN NEARLY ANNIHATED EACH OTHER [Kargil affair]; + BALUCHISTAN LEADERS INVITE NATO TO INTERVENE IN BALUCHISTAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-10-04 09:06  

#10  To win in Afghanistan, you have to
defeat Islam. To do that, you have to deprive Muslims of the ability to suborn Western institutions via combination of petrodollar bribes and threats of violence. Nobody can give present day Western "elites" balls, but you can find substitutes for Persian Gulf oil.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-10-04 05:43  

#9  It calls for an ArcLight with the DRINKS on Barack!
Posted by: 3dc   2009-10-04 03:59  

#8  I think Obama is looking to his re-election prospects and wanting to avoid his equivalent of the Iran Hostages.

BTW, the Taliban is just a religous veneer on a ethnic conflict. Defeating 50 million Pushtuns would require body counts orders of magnitude higher than anyone in the West is prepared to tolerate.
Posted by: phil_b   2009-10-04 02:37  

#7  Delaying a decision or a request from his commanders in the field.... IS A DECISION!
Posted by: Besoeker in Duitsland   2009-10-04 02:20  

#6  sorry badanov... to this crew, that is 'moralistic' or some similar bull-shite
Posted by: abu do you love    2009-10-04 01:29  

#5  So, caught between a rock and a hard spot, he will do nothing, and let Afghanistan steadily deteriorate, until the public, fed up with going nowere, and seeing casualties mount, demands a pullout.

If that is the "endgame" then the public ought to damn well demand Obama's resignation now, or his impeachment later.

Leaving US forces hanging on a war zone is surely a high crime.
Posted by: badanov   2009-10-04 01:24  

#4  To win in Afghanistan, you have to defeat the Taliban. To defeat the Taliban you have to go into the tribal areas of Pakistan and destroy their base. You may also have to beat some heads in Pakistan proper. The big O, despite his campaign era rhetoric, is not willing to do what needs to be done. By doing the right thing, he antagonizes is Left supports and handlers. as well as Pakistan (multiple personality govt and all).

So, caught between a rock and a hard spot, he will do nothing, and let Afghanistan steadily deteriorate, until the public, fed up with going nowhere, and seeing casualties mount, demands a pullout.

Then Afghanistan and Wazoo becomes a terrorist superhaven, and we get hit again.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2009-10-04 01:20  

#3  TARZAN say Chinese eat too many noodles; no go to waste-line, only to brain.

Until America is disarmed only the foolhearty will dare to attack - But only if Mr Appeasement is out of office.
Posted by: Tarzan Crereling6523   2009-10-04 01:06  

#2  ION FREEREPUBLIC/MIL FORUMS > seems CHINA doesn't like the growing US MIL PRESENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-10-04 00:50  

#1  Splitting the military and making it political is the entire idea.
Posted by: gromky   2009-10-04 00:04  

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