Target Rich Environment

I don’t have a huge problem with the President playing as much golf, hosting glitzy parties, and recreating as much as he has been. (link) But I do have a problem with his current policy on Afghanistan. I know if it was Presidente Boosh, we’d be seeing bumper stickers that say “Bush Teed Off While Our Troops Bleed Off” or something like that.

This is deadly serious.  The current “we’re going to wait and see how the election turns out to decide if we fulfill our hand-picked general’s desperate troop request” policy is stupid.  Chairman Obama has stated that he wants to take his time with the decision to save lives, but this is not an option. The Great High-Roader then accented his position that he’s doing what he’s doing because he doesn’t want to risk soldiers’ lives with a midnight photo-op with flag-draped caskets. Every U.S. and allied life matters, and sure, you don’t want mass casualties, but you’re supposed to be in a war to win. If he was actually fit to be President, he’d realize that winning the war is the way to minimize casualties- and his current policy is going to prolong the war and cause more casualties on both sides. He’s waffling, and that’s not the type of leadership war-time demands. In fact, it’s not leadership.

I think it has something to do with the separate diplomacy with Iran or Winter in the mountains (the insurgents go South into Pakiland for the Winter, don’t they?), but I’m of a mind that you either are there to win and accomplish your mission or you leave.

Our goal for Iraq was to get their military and police in a position to help keep order (”we’ll stand down when they stand up”), and it seems like we’re nearing a time when we can drawdown the troops.  Unfortunately, car bombings and such seem to be the norm, but what happens now when we leave versus what would’ve happened three years ago?

One thing that I’ve learned from sports is “keep your feet moving”.  You absolutely must, because when you plant your feet you get stuck, and that’s a great metaphor. You don’t want to lose momentum.  If your money’s not earning money, it’s losing value. If you’re not moving up career-wise, you’re on your way down (because surely your current peers are working their way up).

The world is a dynamic place, and this President thinks he lives in a vacuum world where every day is Inauguration Day, with people crying for joy at his immaculation, cheering, wearing his image and icon on shirts and pins, the media adores him and will do anything for him (mostly that’s still true), and anything that goes wrong is “inherited”.

Well guess what?  That day is over, the world has changed beneath President Obama’s feet while he’s got his heels dug in.  And that’s only going to embolden the men who seek to kill our troops. 

During the 2008 campaign, a lot was made of the “3 a.m. phone call” and who was ready to take it.  I had a feeling that Obama wasn’t ready for it, because when it rings, “call back next week” is not an option.  If he’s not capable of making a cogent decision, he needs to resign.