Obama’s Journey To Reshape Afghan War

nytimes.com:

It was just one brief exchange about Afghanistan with an aide late in 2009, but it suggests how President Obama's thinking about what he once called "a war of necessity" began to radically change less than a year after he took up residency in the White House.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[syllepsis]

07:22 PM on 05/21/2012

There was no strategy then (in the sense of winning a war). Neither is there one now.

There is, however, a profit motive.

[Mr MOTO]

08:46 AM on 05/21/2012

Does this sound 'reluctant'?

"Throughout this campaign, I have argued that we need more troops and more resources to win the war in Afghanistan, and to confront the growing threat from al Qaeda along the Pakistani border…”

“Make no mistake: we are confronting an urgent crisis in Afghanistan, and we have to act. It's time to heed the call from General McKiernan and others for more troops. That's why I'd send at least two or three additional combat brigades to Afghanistan."

October 22, 2008 - Then Canidate-Obama

[Mr MOTO]

08:39 AM on 05/21/2012

3 carrier fleets in the Gulf

4 mine sweeping units in the Gulf

In February, the President's Pentagon asked for and received tens of billions in 'emergency funding' to upgrade the bunker-buster

It's been outed that the US is building emergency hospitals through-out the country of Georgia.

[Poster9999]

08:22 AM on 05/21/2012

Summer 2013? Better hope he wins then, and hope this just another "once I get (re)elected" promise like gitmo. Hard to say what Romney would do if he wins in 2012 being he hasn't taken a stance.

[Mr MOTO]

08:20 AM on 05/21/2012

"Mr. Obama had reluctantly decided to order a surge of more than 30,000 troops."

Reluctantly?!?! He ran on the surge platform during the campaign!

[rothomaha]

07:53 AM on 05/21/2012

Asking a general's opinion about a war is just about as stupid as having Jamie Daimon sitting on the Federal Reserve Board! A trained killer will always advocate for more killing, or at least slowing down the killing as little as possible - it is called "having a vested interest" in the outcome. Truman knew this, when he consulted amongst the diplomats in his cabinet and then threw out McArthur, who had been even more critical and subordinate toward him than McChrystal toward Obama. Ask us, Mr. President - we are the ones who pay the bills!

[sossity]

06:43 AM on 05/21/2012

Karl will read this & figure out how to turn it against the Prez.

[crew977]

08:04 AM on 05/21/2012

Nixon or Bar ry?

[sossity]

11:54 PM on 05/21/2012

Yer a riot, Alice!

[1differentdrummer]

05:48 AM on 05/21/2012

“We had been at war for eight years, and no one could explain the strategy.” Are you kidding me? We had no strategy that could be explained in just a few sentences? Why the h*** were we there? That means there was no real mission statement. Our troops were thrashing around, fighting manfully, but spending their time on tactics. That's Vietnam all over again. It's a ticket punching, ribbon awarding exercise. It gives the military something to do. Bad deal. Send our troops there to get body parts shot off for no reason? Thanks Bush and Republicans. Creeps.

[kinogod]

06:42 AM on 05/21/2012

Exactly.

[OldHick]

05:38 AM on 05/21/2012

Obama going over generals- is a possible sign of danger. He has never proven he is eligible for office, and up until 2007 was telling everyone that he was born in Kenya. Now he is changing his story to saying he did that so he could work with Ralph Nader. He is slick, but almost certainly he forged a document of proof for federal office, ex post facto, and that is a crime. He should be impeached. How many people will not vote for a person who was telling everyone he was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia? The DEMS should chose a different candidate.

[theaustralian]

06:09 AM on 05/21/2012

do you know why an American president has to be born America? it goes back to centuries ago when the founding fathers decided to add in a law to stop Alexander Hamilton becoming president, since Hamilton was born in the Caribbean.

[Poster9999]

08:24 AM on 05/21/2012

coo coo.

[Bookzilla]

05:03 AM on 05/21/2012

Put that trillion dollars over ten years into American renewable energy infrastructure and let that bleak and miserable part of the world go back to religious versions of Hatfields vs McCoys until they run out of bullets.

[Bravo Bravo]

03:29 AM on 05/21/2012

Obama surged triple the troops to Afghanistan, taken the Israeli_position of assuming total responsibility for an "unstable, nuclear" Pakistan all in a span of 3 years. Then, suddenly, 6 months before the 2012 election, the antiwar propaganda to suit 72% of Americans flies.

There is no measurable way to test Obama's sincerity before the election.

[1differentdrummer]

05:50 AM on 05/21/2012

Read a bit more.

[RealistBC]

02:24 AM on 05/21/2012

Generals don't like being told how to fight wars. One has to wonder if Obama ever read Seven Days in May. it could happen to him. Woe betide America if it does.

[JimThompson44]

06:27 AM on 05/21/2012

Good book, great movie ... and absolutely no chance it will happen to this president.

[vmf211]

02:24 AM on 05/21/2012

I guess it's beause of all of Obama's vast military knowledge and experience that he can cut the general's out.

[RealistBC]

03:03 AM on 05/21/2012

Says the guy who glorifies obsolete military hardware as his avatar.

[r3000]

03:20 AM on 05/21/2012

It's a constitutional republic. Generals have to be fired just for the fun of it on occasion. And in this case, they were just ignored.

If you fight against Liberalism every day, you probably don't value democracy much. Deep down, your opinions are probably close to treason. They should bring back the old punishment for you on that one.

[dteg]

01:49 AM on 05/21/2012

American can't fix it own country but would vote Romney in to waste another 3 trillion to try to change Iran.

[Fi]

03:54 AM on 05/21/2012

Yip!

[CANTHATBE]

01:41 AM on 05/21/2012

The strategy has always been the same. Americans have no idea who they are fighting. They just ride up and down the street looking to see if anyone looks threatening and might fire back.

[JimThompson44]

06:28 AM on 05/21/2012

You don't sound like you've ever been part of the real one percenters, those who've actually served.