The Leaked Afghanistan Troop Request and the Ultimate Test of a President

The president has a HUGE problem on his hands and it is unlikely based on his amateurish leadership so far that he will handle this very well. In fact, he has managed to paint himself into a political corner that will prove to be difficult if not impossible to extricate himself.

The White House has apparently been sitting on a rather significant request for a troop increase from General Stanley McChrystal for over three weeks.

And General McChrystal’s analysis certainly appears to request urgent action or face failure.

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict “will likely result in failure,” according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The Washington Post.

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says emphatically: “Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.”

His assessment was sent to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Aug. 30 and is now being reviewed by President Obama and his national security team.

This is not good for Obama. He hand picked McChrystal and now he is realizing that though Stan McChrystal is among the best Generals we have, he doesn’t have a magic wand.

Obama is trying to vote “Present” again but while that is a valid tactic in Illinois politics it doesn’t work very well at all when making decisions about war.

Hard decisions are not a strong suit for the young president who can’t point to a single day of executive experience prior to the White House or a particularly difficult decision that he alone would be held responsible for. Now he is at a politcal tipping point and this hazard is 100% of his own doing.

His biggest problem is not Afghanistan. The 2-ton elephant in the room is the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). This is the far left loons who support anything ACORN does and opposes any war for any reason. I like to refer to them as the “All Whores-No Wars” coalition.

Healthcare reform is dead if he doesn’t include the public option to this group of Socialists and dead if he does to the blue dogs particularly in the Senate.

Dramatically increasing troop levels in Afghanistan will singe the collective panties of the “All Whores-No Wars” coalition and Obama knows that if nothing else, they are a very vindictive group. They have the power and will use it to destroy his entire domestic agenda.

Philosophically Obama is a far left Socialists and that is how he got where he is so this group holds more sway over him than most sane presidents. The anti-war leftists in both houses are starting the raise their heads and Obama has to be hearing their cries.

Oh, and it gets worse for the president.

Within 24 hours of the leak of the Afghanistan assessment to The Washington Post, General Stanley McChrystal’s team fired its second shot across the bow of the Obama administration. According to McClatchy, military officers close to General McChrystal said he is prepared to resign if he isn’t given sufficient resources (read troops) to implement a change in direction in Afghanistan:

Adding to the frustration, according to officials in Kabul and Washington, are White House and Pentagon directives made over the last six weeks that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, not submit his request for as many as 45,000 additional troops because the administration isn’t ready for it.

If true, this is a major development and Obama is in a total quagmire. Most Americans have never heard of General McChrystal but he is an icon in the Special Operations community and his integrity is absolutely beyond reproach.

To put this in context, what would have happened to Jefferson Davis if Robert E. Lee resigned in protest of his policies?

Yeah, it’s that bad and Obama knows it.

Stay tuned as this story developes.

Early prediction: Obama throws the CPC under the bus and supports McChrystal. This will wreck his domestic agenda but single handedly losing a war is not a way to leave a legacy above Jimmy Carter.

Category: Politics