Posted on 06/23/2010 7:17:55 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
As President Obama concluded his Rose Garden statement revealing that he had replaced Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top American commander in Afghanistan, a reporter shouted an impromptu question. "Can the war be won?" he yelled. The president didn't answer — perhaps because he doesn't know.
You can watch the non-answer here. (video at link) The moment comes as the president starts to walk away:
Obama is trying to stick to a July 2011 deadline to draw down troops in Afghanistan — but the McChrystal flap was the latest setback for an administration trying desperately to regain momentum in a conflict that's grown increasingly harder to manage as it loses public support back home.
Obama's choice of Gen. David Petraeus, who is already overseeing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as head of U.S. Central Command, will at the very least contain much of the political fallout from McChrystal's firing. Petraeus, an architect of the 2007 troop surge in Iraq, is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. His appointment will no doubt buy the White House some time politically ..
But with American casualties rising and no clear victory in sight, that breathing spell may prove short-lived. Obama emphasized that his announcement is a "change in personnel but ... not a change in policy." ..
But continuity at the top may not help the president close ranks among his civilian advisers — a stubborn source of tension ever since the president came into office 18 months ago. Obama has been dogged again and again by the very public squabbling on war strategy among administration officials — indeed, the swipes that McChrystal took in his now-infamous Rolling Stone interview at figures such as Vice President Joe Biden bear witness to that ongoing fractious mood.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
US Gen. David Petraeus (R) listens to President Barack Obama announce him as the successor of US commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who resigned, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC. Obama swiftly relieved McChrystal of his command Wednesday, warning that his stunning criticism of the administration would erode trust in the Afghan war effort. (AFP/Nicholas Kamm)
Better question: Do you want to win the war?
Surely, he'd know the answer to that...
Soetoro is a mental fruitcake. He now owns Afghanistan. Bush was right to stay out and Soetoro’s a failure. The Democrats are getting clubbed like baby seals.
I do not clearly recall Obama ever making a strong statement about winning in Afstan,
But I remember clearly a number of times he spoke, with an air of determination, about bombing Pakistan.
Maybe his Pakistani college roommate stole his “stash” once and he is still angry about it.
Obviously, Obama did not have MY crib notes. The correct answer is:
“YES!”
What’s the strategy? If it’s COIN first you’re going to have to explain it to Zero because he’s clueless.
Who can fight a war in Afghanistan when your pullout date is next July.
I think the best they can do at this stage is turn the dogs loose by the government some time and plan your departure.
The problem was that Mc Crystal said that the White house was a bunch of “WIMPS” In Majaf we are bogged down because we can’t kill people. In war you must kill people and destroy property. This is not a war. This is patty cake. We Killed people in Dresden and Hiroshima and in France. Our soldiers must not kill a civilian in this crappy country!! BS !!!
US Gen. David Petraeus fainted a couple weeks ago, and the left was giddy...this week...not so much...
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