Interesting story here of a State Department Foreign Service Officer who recently resigned his post in protest over the war in Afghanistan. He is touted here as having been the first to do so. With a background as a combat tested Marine (in Iraq), he apparently was well thought-of, and his resignation has sent ripples throughout the Administration as it seeks to define its Afghanistan policy.
George Bush showed great courage--a level for which I will always be thankful--when he ignored the advice of his senior military advisers AND the Iraq Study Group by doubling down and implementing "the surge".
I find myself increasingly believing that Barack Obama ought to do the same thing--no, not doubling down--but ignoring the advice of his senior military advisers who advocate an increase of some 40,000 troops to implement a counterinsurgency strategy. I think the President's current prevarication--while certainly not confidence inspiring--is probably worthwhile as he demands from his advisers more options. The resignation letter of Matthew Hoh seems to contain a good bit of wisdom for a President deciding on the strategic goals of our engagement in Afghanistan. The more I ponder those goals, the more I question them.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
9 comments:
I think you're missing the point CW. Obama is stalling for political reasons. His left wants out and we've got off year elections coming up. This is political expediency, plain and simple.
My view is either fish or cut bait. He owes it to the troops and to the American people. Remember, more is lost by indecision than wrong decision.
"Remember, more is lost by indecision than wrong decision?"
Can you please provide examples that prove this "truism?"
Von Manstein v. Zhuchov at the battle of Kursk. Hitler was averse to making decisions. He ordered Manstein to stand down until Tigers arrived at the front by which time the Red Army had built a vast array of defenses. A watershed event on the eastern front.
Do I get extra credit?
WISHFUL THINKING AND INDECISIVE WARS
http://projectworldawareness.com/2009/05/wishful-thinking-and-indecisive-wars/
GHD - I'll see your Kursk with an Operation Iraqi Freedom and raise you an Admiral Halsey at Leyte Gulf and the Typhoon.
Also, examples means more than one. So, no, you only get partial credit.
My point is that your "truism" is hardly that and as such we needn't remember it no matter how many example(s) you provide. There are likely just as many examples for and against your hypothesis.
Taking a line from Alexander Pope, Edmund Burke admonished "'fools rush in where angels fear to tread'. In such a state of unbounded power for undefined and undefinable purposes, the evil of a moral and almost physical inaptitude of the man to the function must be the greatest we can conceive to happen in the management of human affairs."
Sorry GHD,
Game, set, match Anonymous
Mr Dail -- just know your arguments fall on deaf ears each time you question someone's motives with out evidence aside from personal biases.
moreover, you wrote "more is lost by indecision than wrong decision." Says who? Geez your assertions are often absurb and rarely supported by facts. I concur with the other anon.....
Not so fast my friend. That's not a "truism" of mine, I'm not that smart.
That was from Sun Tzu, The Art of War. So if you've got a problem, take it up with him.
By the way Kursk was more wrong decision than indecision. I suppose the whole Vietnam conflict would be a better example.
One more thing, get a name. Posting anonymously, especially when it's criticism, is tantamount to vandalism with a spray can. If you feel the need to hide who you are, I don't feel obligated to respond.
Post a Comment