Still No Decision On Afghan Troop Increase

The Obama Administration still hasn’t made the decision on sending additional troops to Afghanistan as requested by General Stanley McChrystal back in August. Wednesday the President met with his National Security team and expressed displeasure with the options presented and sent Defense officials back to the Pentagon to re-define different strategy options.

The Administration is receiving conflicting information from various national security experts all under the guise of history repeating itself reflecting back into time when President Lyndon Johnson had to chart a similar course. The president must understand that one can misinterpret history and come to a different conclusion.

Too often the decision to send forces into harm’s way are difficult and complex, but always the analogy of Vietnam rears its ugly head. Similarities will always be there, but each conflict is different, in this situation one can be mislead into a false reading of past conflicts that hamper ones decision making capability.

In fairness to the Administration the critique from former Vice President Dick Chaney is unwarranted, had the Bush Administration funded, sourced and placed together a viable coherent strategy for Afghanistan we may not be in this situation today. Now President Obama must realize he is now president and has to stop revisiting the past and make his decision, to continue to focus on the missteps of the previous administration just brings you back to the current crisis. Unfortunately President Obama is falling into the same trap as the previous administration by perusing a strategy of engagement at the same time wanting an exit strategy.

General McChrystal presented a detailed thought provoking comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy that gives the United States the chance to turn the situation around. Too often we are left with political pundits on both sides of the political spectrum debating Afghanistan on flawed information and the misreading of history.

This is not Vietnam, this is Afghanistan! The perception the administration is conveying is he doesn’t know what he wants to do, and whatever strategy ultimately develops the impression that his stomach isn’t in this fight and will find any excuse to abandon Afghanistan.

The citizens of Afghanistan look at America not as occupiers in the mold of the Russians and British but one of liberating them from the repressive Taliban regime. The problem is that they are unsure of are staying power, as they realize whatever transpires they will be stuck with the consequences.

To the pundits who articulate withdrawal or the counterterrorism strategy advocated by Vice President Joseph Biden, the question must be asked what happens to the people who supported us or the 40% of Afghan girls currently attending school today when the Taliban return?

The consequence of failure will be on this administration and no one else!