I will be the first to say that President Obama is in a very difficult spot in deciding how to proceed with the war in Afghanistan.  The nation is divided on the wisdom of continuing the war, and the cost per soldier deployed is approaching one million dollars per year. President Obama has to make a choice.  It is a damned if you do and damned if you don’t scenario.  In my opinion, the decision that he will discuss with the American people this evening, pre-announced to the media, will damn him on both sides. 

President Obama will have just a few key decisions in his Presidency.  All Presidents are judged on just a few key decisions.  This will clearly be one of those decision, and it will take many years before we know if he makes the right decision.  In the meantime, both the Left and the Right will say he made the wrong decision. 

One of the best political lines that I have read was “you campaign with poetry, you govern with prose."  This evening’s Presidential speech will not be followed up with discussions of how elegant he speaks, as has been the case in the past.  The media will go after the meat of this speech and it will be the first time we see the media challenge this President on his content and not his style.

 Who Said It?

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

The Discussion:

For those that support the wisdom of the Generals on the ground and believe that you fight a war to win or you don’t fight at all (one of the most important lessons of Vietnam) they will be dissatisfied with the “limited surge” that President Obama is expected to discuss with the American people this evening.  They will feel that the President didn’t give full support to the effort and thus, if and when we leave in disgrace, it will be his fault.  Many of these people also believe that if we fail in Afghanistan, we will leave behind a festering situation that will require far greater sacrifice by Americans in the future.  Afghanistan will be a lawless society that will be a breeding ground for future terrorists and a damaged reputation of the United States as weak or incompetent.

For those that wish to see an end to this war, the President’s announcement that he will increase the number of troops by 30,000 or more and will extricate ourselves over time, is not welcome news.  The intellectuals like Michael Moore, sorry for the cheap jab for those that know Michael Moore to be a flaming opinionist who plays loosely with facts to taunt the public to believe his biases in his movies (like Sicko), are flaming mad and will not rest until “his” vision of the right answer is adopted by the President.  There are many, like Michael Moore, who believe that we must pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan right now.  There are many, like Michael Moore, that believe a Democracy means that elected officials do what the public wants them to do.  Of course, there are many like Michael Moore who do not know what a Democracy really means and it does not mean you do what the people think is the right thing to do.

I would like to suggest a couple of facts that I hope inform your listening when President Obama addresses the nation this evening.  He will lay out his strategy, end game and troop deployment plans.

1)   While we would all like to know when this is going to be over, if we know, then the enemy knows.  In a land that has been waging war for 1000’s of years, waiting a few more for the Americans to withdraw so they can take control is just part of a battle strategy.  They are playing to win and they have no timetable.  The only measure for the terrorists is getting the Americans out of the Middle East so they can gain control again.

2)   Ask any military strategist about the most valuable lesson of Vietnam and they will tell you that overpowering the enemy and delivering a crushing defeat is the best way to win your objective.  Ask any military strategist about the lessons of Iraq and they will tell you overpower the enemy and engage the general population.  Under either scenario you have to fight to win, not fight to help.

3)   A Democracy does not mean that the government takes opinion polls of what the public wants, especially regarding national security.  If that were the case, technology allows us to vote on everything so why would we have these Congressional money wasters in Washington?  We could all just log in once a day and vote on national referendums..  Democracy means that we elect people that share of views and opinions on national issues so they can represent us.  If we don’t like what they do, we replace them in the next election.   We can influence their voting while in office through letters, protests, etc. but they do not have to decide the way a vocal minority, or even the majority, wish them to decide.  If that were the case we would not have a Union, as the majority of Americans were against the Civil War.  We would have lost WWII as the majority of Americans were battle weary and against the cost of the war in life and money.  It takes leadership to do the right thing.

President Obama has his first leadership moment.  It is no longer the political trail when you can say what your supporters want to hear.  He will not be able to blame his predecessor for the outcome of this decision.  He is on his own with this decision.  His legacy will be built on a few critical decisions during his Presidency, and this is one of them.  He has chosen a path that will be criticized by the vast majority of Americans.  The Left will be unhappy because he was elected to get us out of these wars.  The Right will be unhappy because he will be perceived as weak and not committed to winning.

The Conclusion:

Leaders must make difficult decisions.  The strategy President Obama has chosen has three years to succeed, no matter what time line he lays out to the American public.  Three years from now he will be judged on either winning or leaving.  If neither of these occur he will have to convince the American public that continued support of the effort beyond 2012, or a near term conclusion to the war, is at hand.  FDR had a hard time doing it.  Abraham Lincoln had a hard time doing it.  Lyndon Johnson failed at it.

My bias is to either fight to win or get out.  The worst thing the President can do is try to play a middle ground and play politics with the decision.

Who Said It?

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

                                                                                      Albert Einstein

Today's ZingerToon:

 California's Legislature Dealing With Their $130 Billion Dollar Deficit.
        

Recent ZingerKing Articles:

Articles can be found under “Recent Articles” in the purple sidebar.   Older articles can be found in the archives that are stored by month.  These are found at the bottom of the purple sidebar.   Here is a list of the most recent articles.Click here to access the archives  www.ZingerKing.com