In a flashback to Viet Nam, we get a foreshadowing of the Obama strategy in Afghanistan. Apparently disappointed by his handpicked General, Stanley McChrystal’s request for 40,000 more troops, General-in-Chief Obama has decide to run the Afghan war from Washington. To do that, according to the Washington Post, he has asked for a detailed report on that country, province by province. In a short while, McChrystal will be relegated to a powerless background position, just close enough to the action to act as a sacrificial lamb when the whole thing goes bust. Team Obama is good at that, the diminishment of Hillary Clinton is exhibit A.
That’s how we lost Viet Nam. Remember Lyndon Johnson and his staff poring over maps of bombing targets?
That’s how we lost Viet Nam. Remember Lyndon Johnson and his staff poring over maps of bombing targets?
From the beginning, there were many problems with the organization of Rolling Thunder, making success almost impossible. The targets were selected during Tuesday lunches at the White House in Washington. Attending the meetings were President Johnson and his civilian advisers and beginning in 1967, military representatives. These advisers chose the targets, tactics, timing, number of aircraft, and ordnance. Personnel in Vietnam could request targets, but by the time the request worked its way through Washington, the quick-moving Viet Cong would have left the area. This micromanagement from across the world by civilian personnel angered many. Curtis LeMay likened it to a hospital administrator performing brain surgery.
It’s a re-run and it’s being done by people who may be too young to remember Viet Nam and its disastrous management. Plus, they have an infinite amount of faith in the fact that they are the smartest people …. ever …. in the history of the world. Google “Obama smart” and you get 99,200,000 hits.
Some of their followers - like Sting - go much farther than that. He believes that Obama is "sent from God."
In a few weeks, the conduct of the war in Afghanistan may well be managed in weekly meetings of Barack Hussein Obama, John Kerry (who served in Viet Nam), Joe Biden, Rahm Emanuel and David Axlerod.
What could possibly go wrong?
What could possibly go wrong?
2 comments:
I think in a few weeks is yesterday, otherwise we wouldn't be waiting for election results in Virginia, and New Jersey before declaring our "well thought out policy".
Besides there's the "leaked" story about Karzai's brother, and Obama's deciding to meet the bodies of those soldiers recently killed in Afghanistan. If he's trying to show us how much he cares, I would say too late Mr. President, if you would have sent help when you were asked two months ago, maybe they wouldn't be dead today. This is why dithering is not good.
Before there is a learning from history of mistakes made there must be an acknowledgement that there indeed exists such a history. The current administration possesses no such ability. They perform as though history began with them. Our history provides us with many examples of the disaster of politicians playing military expert.These go back to the Revolutionary War. They will never learn!
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