Leaked to the NY Times by Team Obama:
In an announcement in the White House Rose Garden in May, Mr. Obama said that the American military would have no combat role in Afghanistan next year, and that the missions for the 9,800 troops remaining in the country would be limited to training Afghan forces and to hunting the “remnants of Al Qaeda.
But a secret order by Obama changed that.
Mr. Obama’s order allows American forces to carry out missions against the Taliban and other militant groups threatening American troops or the Afghan government, a broader mission than the president described to the public earlier this year, according to several administration, military and congressional officials with knowledge of the decision. The new authorization also allows American jets, bombers and drones to support Afghan troops on combat missions.
To me that sounds as if Americans will be in combat under any conceivable circumstance. It sounds as if the military and the new Afghan government convinced Obama that if his Afghan strategy was carried out, the war would be lost before he left office.
So, despite prior promises, Obama doesn't want Afghanistan to turn into another Libya on his watch. One Benghazi is enough.
According to the report in the NY Times, official print house organ of the Obama administration:
“… generals both at the Pentagon and in Afghanistan urged Mr. Obama to define the mission more broadly to allow American troops to attack the Taliban, the Haqqani network and other militants if intelligence revealed that the extremists were threatening American forces in the country.
And if things go wrong, will the Commander in Chief be responsible? You have to be kidding me. It’s going to be the fault of the military. As one administration official put it:
“… the military pretty much got what it wanted.”
[Cue Obama voice] "You can'r blame me, I gave the military what it wanted. The Commander in Chief? Not me; it's the military's fault."
The Limbaugh Theorem in action.
No comments:
Post a Comment