September 2, 2012
STRATEGY? IT WAS JUST TACTICAL:
The election's invisible war (Fred Hiatt, August 31, 2012, Washington Post)
Obama has commanded the war in Afghanistan with a kind of split-the-baby ambivalence. In 2009, he ordered a major ramp-up of U.S. troops while setting the date to begin their withdrawal. His motivations -- encouraging the Afghans to take ownership of the fight, managing war fatigue at home -- were understandable. But the obvious question was: If the strategic goal justifies such a commitment of U.S. lives, how can it be prudent to order a withdrawal regardless of whether the goal has been achieved?
Iraq was strategic. It worked. Afghanistan was a sideshow.
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 2, 2012 9:11 AM
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