With Hillary Clinton gallivanting off to Brussels to beg for additional troop support from our more cautious and reluctant allies, it appears President Obama has, for the moment, narrowly escaped the rants and rages of those on the far left in his Party. Early indications would suggest a slight majority were convinced they should give this president their trust, to support his innovative approach to large-scale warfare, escalating quickly, executing expertly and exiting expeditiously.
As with any speech the president delivers, he hit all the appropriate tones at all the appropriate moments, to project the mental messages his varied audiences could collectively grasp as reasonable. For those concerned with the cost of war during hard times, they saw and heard a leader grounded in the realities of our economic challenges. For those concerned with a repeat of a looming Vietnam like quagmire, they saw and heard a leader placing an expiration date on this military endeavor. Moreover, for those “Republican war hawks” worried America would leave too soon, they heard and saw a leader leaving plenty of wiggle room for that old reliable “conditions on the ground” based safety net.
The backdrop for Barack Obama’s first speech to the nation establishing himself as a wartime Commander-in-Chief was both a stroke of genius and at the same time troubling. While the selection of The United States Military Academy at West Point virtually assured no disrespectful outburst from the peanut gallery or gate crashing from some slimy reality TV gutter trash, the cameras did capture the sea of fresh faced, impressionable youngsters, America is entrusting to this president to defend the nation.
These were not the hardened faces of battle-tested warriors; these were our children. These kids constitute the next generation of the best, brightest and bravest we are capable of developing. These eager cadets represents more than the cream of our youth, they are our future and hence our destiny. Had the previous administration held the United States military with due reverence and not with reckless disregard, perhaps this new strategy would not be necessary at all.
However, while we are certain the president is forever cognizant that each and every one of those faces has a parent somewhere that loves them deeply and have sacrificed so much to bring them this far, we must be sure this latest strategy is exactly as the president has intimated; the beginning of the end of this madness and not just a new beginning.
Only through diligently sifting through all the ear pleasing, rhythmatically melodic war language of disrupting, dismantling and defeating Al Qaeda, by clearing, holding, building and transferring current terrorist safe havens to responsible Afghan governance, can we begin to properly examine precisely what the president is asking.
If we heard what we think we heard, then the president’s plan of a most ambitious escalation of forces, for the purpose of an even more ambitious training schedule for a poorly educated, dope smoking, tribally divided Afghan populace, to capably police and defend themselves, hardly seems achievable nor reasonable at first blush, given the constraints of his own timeframe.
Nevertheless, this president, like nearly every one of his predecessors is asking the country to place our fate in his hands to execute a plan in defending America’s vital interest and security. The international community has also been placed on notice for their much needed faith and commitment to President Obama’s leadership. Unfortunately, because of the previous administration’s wartime dalliances and frivolity, our allies are rightly taking a more wait and see approach.
Secretary Clinton is currently describing her efforts as “intensive outreach”; to sell our “friends” abroad on our new way forward, but we’ll stick with “begging” for now, until all nations willing to accept our cold calls for warm bodies begin to make firm military commitments publicly.
Despite all of the above, it is apparent the president was successful with his rollout of this latest effort to manage the Afghan campaign to a “respectable conclusion.” Still, he should remain ever so mindful of how tenuous and temporary this support really is. In the event his base gets the slightest inkling that these additional resources are just being thrown into a bloody meat grinder to replace the weary warriors already faithfully sacrificing their sound minds and bodies, President Obama will be forced to face the full wrath of a war weary world.