Obama’s War: “Evaluating Progress in Afghanistan-Pakistan”

During the presidential campaign Senator McCain made a big issue of then Senator Obama’s statement that we were conducting clandestine counterinsurgency operations in Pakistan. It was along the lines of “…you never admit to an operation that hasn’t been released to the public as policy”. Senator McCain’s rebuke of Obama is at the heart of our misguided foreign policy. We slink around in the shadows like a rat, attempting to bend other governments to our liking.

Now that we’ve admitted the CIA is fighting a war in Pakistan, we need a policy there too. It’s very troubling that the three-page draft given to Congress on Wednesday, 9/16/09, seems to have as much emphasis on Pakistan as Afghanistan. Dialogue on this issue is not front page news- obviously overshadowed by the health care debate.  It seems unthinkable, but President Obama seems to be following in his predecessors footsteps and we're letting it happen. Are we asleep at the wheel?

 You can read the full reprint of the document at this web site:
 "Evaluating Progress in Afghanistan-Pakistan"

It states our objectives and includes a lot subjective metrics to measure progress. They’re all BS. The President will be able to claim success whenever it’s convenient to do so. If he needs more troops, he'll be able to justify that too.

Here are the President’s objectives and my take on them:
1- Disrupt terrorist networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan
This is the only objective worth pursuing – the others just get us bogged down in another Vietnam. We don’t need 100,000 troops to do this.

2a- Assist efforts to enhance civilian control and stable constitutional government in Pakistan
Why do we have to enhance civilian control in Pakistan? Are our troops going to Pakistan? Or is this the CIA? This is new.

2b- Develop Pakistan’s counterinsurgency capabilities
Why do we have to develop their military capabilities? Who develops their capability? Our troops? The CIA?

2c- Involve the international community more actively to forge an international consensus to stabilize Pakistan
How do we stabilize Pakistan? Invade them too? Overthrow their government as we did in Iraq and Afghanistan?

3a-Defeat the extremist insurgency, secure the Afghan populace, and develop increasingly self-reliant Afghan security forces that can lead the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism fight with reduced U.S. assistance.
He doesn't mention the Taliban. The insurgency is the Taliban. They live there. It’s their country. We’ll have to kill them all or stay there forever. They fought the British for 80 years. It sounds like we never plan to leave.

3b- Promote a more capable, accountable and effective government in Afghanistan…
How do we do this without usurping their sovereignty? Would we like another country promoting a more capable, accountable, and effective government in the U.S.?

3c- Involve the international community more actively to forge an international consensus to stabilize Afghanistan
NATO already has 30,000 troops there. I don’t think Europe is as foolish as we are. They’ll have the good sense get out before we do.

We seem to all be hypnotized by the President.  This is not the "good" war. It's not worthy of one precious American life. We’re going in the wrong direction. We’re going in. We should be going out.