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Home Front: Politix
Obama Won't Take Any Current War Options, Official Says
2009-11-12
President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

That stance comes in the midst of forceful reservations about a possible troop buildup from the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official.

In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Obama is still close to announcing his revamped war strategy -- most likely shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19.

But the president raised questions at a war council meeting Wednesday that could alter the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Obama's thinking.
Rest at link
Posted by:ed

#16  He needs those war bucks to fund his midnight basketball schemes. No surprises here.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-11-12 22:50  

#15  Un-be-Fucking believable!

This TOTAL FOOL is going to get a lot of great people killed. In fact he ALREADY HAS!

What a dumb-ass.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2009-11-12 22:16  

#14  that's the thing with empty suits: there's no spine there, either. All the cheap thug Chicago tricks won't hide the fact that he's a "present" p*ssy, with no basic personal principles or bedrock beliefs, other than redistribution of wealth, hatred of European colonial history, yadda yadda.

He's an embarrassment and a one term fool, just like Carter. Now's the time for Damage Limitation
Posted by: Frank G   2009-11-12 21:44  

#13  None of the options included the words "apologise and surrender".

So that is option five, but Obama chose option six: Dither and delay.

All delays are dangerous in war.

--John Dryden
Posted by: badanov   2009-11-12 21:28  

#12  The Big O does not care about Afghanistan. He really does not want to do anything about Pakistan, and he certainly does not want to do anything about the Saudis, who are a major player in financing terror worldwide, with their wahhabi nutcase princes and financiers.

The last US govt entity with any integrity is the military. The Big O is going to grind them down in Afghanistan without a clear winning strategy until the good guys quit and the sycophants float to the top of the food chain.

The destruction in all parts of the government is unbelievable.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2009-11-12 20:46  

#11  None of the options included the words "apologise and surrender".
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2009-11-12 18:51  

#10  I guess Obother knows the answer and none of the options were correct, they will have to try again until they get it right. Until then, the blood will be on the security team's hands. Have a great trip to asia mr. president!

Any takers on a Thanksgiving announcement? 3-1-2 odds Reinforce/Status Quo/Withdraw.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2009-11-12 15:47  

#9  They could have quit typing after
OBAMA WON'T
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-11-12 14:07  

#8  If we aren't in Afghanistan to win (and it looks like we aren't) for heavens sake get our boys out of there.

No plan = casualties and defeat.

Obama is worse than Nero.
Posted by: DarthVader   2009-11-12 12:43  

#7  yeah. F#Ck the state department.
Posted by: newc   2009-11-12 12:21  

#6  I dunno. I have reservations too. How do we supply extra troops? Karzai makes a nice scapegoat if you don't want to say out loud that Pakistan isn't holding together very well and that we don't trust the Russian "support" we paid for with the missile defense backdown.
Posted by: James   2009-11-12 12:11  

#5  The second sentence rings alarm bells.

What the hell is wrong with the State Dept? They screwed up Iraq until Bush let the military have its way, now they are doing the same thing to Afghanistan.

The State Dept is screwing the military over again. Amb to Afghanistan is the one screwing this up and that is who Obama is listening to, not his Generals. State is all about the politics and doesn't give a shit about the military aspects. I guess Obama fits in well with that mind set.

I think the military shoudl simply tell State OK YOU FIGHT THE WAR and take all those Marines guarding the embassy away. Let the locals come on in.
Posted by: Bolshoun   2009-11-12 10:55  

#4  One of the nice features that real world military ops share with computer video games is the Pause Button. This handy feature allows you to stop the action so you can figure out what to do next. It's great because everything freezes - your guys don't die and the situation doesn't keep going south while you ponder and deliberate.
Posted by: SteveS   2009-11-12 10:04  

#3  Figured out a way to vote "present" on this one, biatch!!! I AM the most smartest president evah!!!
Posted by: B. Hussein Oblahblah   2009-11-12 08:18  

#2  It's all about him. He's not concerned with the Taliban, AQ, radical Islam, or the war per se. He's concerned about who he'll face in 2012. Give the generals the troops they need to win and they get the credit. Pull the troops out and the failure is his which aids his opponent in 2012. Do nothing and wait for an opportunity is the only working option he has to protect his political position. That means he assumes that the generals won't publicly resign, retire, and become part of the opposition. Which means he's either gambling [though with a reasonable measure of the behavior of the individuals] or has something on the other individuals [politics of personal destruction].
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-11-12 08:00  

#1  TOPIX > AFGHAN FUTURE TROUBLED BY EX-WARLORDS IN GOVERNMENT AND DRIVE TO END CORRUPTION.

IOW, the OLD BOYZ NETWORK don't want their funnin' and scammin' and profiterin' to end just yet.

* SAME > JAPAN TO TELL OBAMA IT WANTS OKINAWA BASE CLOSED.

"CONTINENTAL/OFFSHORE SHELF DIPLOMACY" > Many CHIN view OKINAWA = RYUKYUS as part of country's natural underwater geologic or continental shelf, hence think OKIN should [preferably] be independent from Japan + part of CHIN'S DESIRED FUTURE EEZ-SEZ = FREE TRADE ZONE, as due in part to the RYUKYU'S KINGDOM'S ANCIENT TIES TO BEIJING = PEIPING, NOT TOKYU = TOKIO???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-11-12 00:18  

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