I've had a night upon which my subconscious mind could feed on the President's speech, and I've come to conclude that he's done about as well as he possibly could, given the incredible and diverse interests at play in the war in Afghanistan.
1. He campaigned that Afghanistan was the central front in the war on terror. His plan announced last night is entirely consistent with that view. The anti-war crowd who will invariably rise up to oppose this will claim to have been abandoned by the President, but there's simply nothing to that. He was against the war in Iraq (and the successful surge). He's never been against the war in Afghanistan.
2. By putting a timer (18 mos) on the commitment, he's made a strategic (military) error. That said, his ability to gain the votes in his own party necessary to secure the funding for this commitment dictated the move--which is after all, a strategic (political) decision. His calculation is that the center right will support the increased effort and bitch about the conditions--but not enough to walk away from him. Additionally, he sees the center left complaining about the increased effort but applauding the conditions. The far left and the far right--neither of whom will agree with this plan (too much or too little), won't amount to much of anything.
3. By taking the time to think McChrystal's plan through--and then amending it--Obama demonstrated to the uniforms that he will not be a rubber stamp and that he will do what I believe the Founders intended the President to do--exercise leadership. McChrystal came forward with his best military advice. Ultimately, even if Obama agreed with it, he cannot fund it without Congress (the genius of our Founders, again). Therefore, Obama has to weave the strategic military and strategic political pictures together--hence--fewer troops, with a time stop.
All in all, I remain convinced that the President deserves support on this.
Showing posts with label Cold War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cold War. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Second Law of Freedomdynamics
Monday marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Two years prior, President Reagan made his famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech in which he also stated after noting that it was the 22nd anniversary of JFK's visit to Berlin and that three American presidents since had visited:
"We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it's our duty to speak in this place of freedom."
Well, there is already ample critique (and interesting defense) of our current American President's view of that "duty" and while I certainly have my own strong opinion on the matter, I am, rather, writing this because of the article I read today about witnesses to the fall of the wall recollecting their experiences of that day and night. I remember that day, watching from home, having recently returned from a deployment that included a port visit to the USSR, in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula where a year before, the Soviets rammed one of our guided-missile cruisers in international waters of the Black Sea. What I was watching on TV had to be the beginning of the end of the C0ld War and I still recall how privileged I felt to witness this transformation of freedom that was about to impact the globe. In the article, a former US Soldier reflected on the inability of the East German border guards to process the crowds of people seeking to pass through the checkpoints:
"Restrictions had been loosening for weeks as Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Germans and other captive people streamed out of Eastern Europe to freedom in the West. After several weeks of unrest in East Germany, officials there announced that all citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. "As soon as the East Germans made the announcement, thousands of people came down to the wall in both the East and West," Anderson said. “We weren’t sure what was happening. "In the East, the border guards at first were pushing people back, they were trying to check identity cards,” he continued. “But then the pressure became just too much, and they just let people stream through. When they met West Berliners, it was the start of the most joyous celebration I have ever seen.” The first wave of people came at night, and thousands more came the next day. People climbed atop the wall, and East German border guards finally knocked a hole in it to ease transit, Anderson said. Tens of thousands of people drank champagne and threw flowers. U.S. soldiers just waved everybody through. "We were as happy as they were," he said.
In thermodynamics, the second law dictates that heat cannot flow from a colder medium to a warmer one. I wonder, is there anyone alive who really believes that all this historic outpouring of international joy being remembered as we approach the "fall of the wall", was because the free people in the west now had the opportunity to become communists?
"We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it's our duty to speak in this place of freedom."
Well, there is already ample critique (and interesting defense) of our current American President's view of that "duty" and while I certainly have my own strong opinion on the matter, I am, rather, writing this because of the article I read today about witnesses to the fall of the wall recollecting their experiences of that day and night. I remember that day, watching from home, having recently returned from a deployment that included a port visit to the USSR, in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula where a year before, the Soviets rammed one of our guided-missile cruisers in international waters of the Black Sea. What I was watching on TV had to be the beginning of the end of the C0ld War and I still recall how privileged I felt to witness this transformation of freedom that was about to impact the globe. In the article, a former US Soldier reflected on the inability of the East German border guards to process the crowds of people seeking to pass through the checkpoints:
"Restrictions had been loosening for weeks as Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Germans and other captive people streamed out of Eastern Europe to freedom in the West. After several weeks of unrest in East Germany, officials there announced that all citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. "As soon as the East Germans made the announcement, thousands of people came down to the wall in both the East and West," Anderson said. “We weren’t sure what was happening. "In the East, the border guards at first were pushing people back, they were trying to check identity cards,” he continued. “But then the pressure became just too much, and they just let people stream through. When they met West Berliners, it was the start of the most joyous celebration I have ever seen.” The first wave of people came at night, and thousands more came the next day. People climbed atop the wall, and East German border guards finally knocked a hole in it to ease transit, Anderson said. Tens of thousands of people drank champagne and threw flowers. U.S. soldiers just waved everybody through. "We were as happy as they were," he said.
In thermodynamics, the second law dictates that heat cannot flow from a colder medium to a warmer one. I wonder, is there anyone alive who really believes that all this historic outpouring of international joy being remembered as we approach the "fall of the wall", was because the free people in the west now had the opportunity to become communists?
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