Obama Lowering Afghanistan Ambitions?
 |
James Joyner | Wednesday, September 23, 2009 |
Obama administration officials are now admitting what has been apparent for weeks: that they are giving serious consideration to radically downsizing the Afghanistan mission. Peter Baker and Elisabeth Bumiller break the story in this morning’s NYT, noting that a combination of factors have President Obama strongly reconsidering the Biden Plan, which he rejected as recently as March, which calls for a narrow counter-terrorism strategy combined with accelerated handoff to Afghan security forces.
I assess this at some length in my New Atlanticist piece, “Obama Having Buyer’s Remorse in Afghanistan?”
Given that I both anticipated this policy change and that it largely accords with my own instincts on the matter, I’m inclined to give Obama a great deal of slack here.
While I agree with CNAS scholar Andrew Exum that me must consider the costs of withdrawing from Afghanistan along with the advantages and that there are indeed American interests that merit risking American lives in that theater, I also agree with Dr. Henry Kissinger that we must consider our capacity and staying power as well as our desires when deciding what to do next. Given that the American public will not put up with heavy casualties in Afghanistan for decades on end, especially given a corrupt host government and the lack of progress in building infrastructure or training Afghan security forces, it’s incumbent upon the president to steer the course of our policy accordingly.
Much more at the link. I’ll also be discussing this tonight on OTB Radio with Dave Schuler and special guest Joshua Foust of Registan.net.
Photo: Getty Images.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- Obama Lowering Afghanistan Ambitions?
- The Case for COIN in Afghanistan
- Tell Me Why We’re There?
- Henry Kissinger Blogging
- More Troops in Afghanistan!
- Kissinger on Afghanistan: More Troops
- Winning in Afghanistan
- Child Rape in Afghanistan and Hollywood
- Fighting the Taliban by Lowering Taxes
- The New Plan for Afghanistan
- Nathalie Blanchard Facebook Smile Leaves Her Depressed
- Glenn Beck, Community Organizer
- OTB Latenight – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
- Hacked Climate Scientists Emails Reveal Truth
- Obama, the Recession, and Polls
- Giuliani Running for Senate, Not Governor
- OTB Latenight – The Jesus & Mary Chain
- Fox Fake Crowd Videos
- Congress to Investigate Fake Districts
- Douthat Blogging Again
I’m inclined to give Obama a great deal of slack here
Given the fact that he said he was going to ramp up our assault on these Afgan bastards and now he is going back on his word, I say to B. Hussein: "You Lie!"
I think it is disgusting that this guy has forced himself on us and now on our nation's schoolchildren.
The recent election did not help anything. It clarified, again, what an inept and corrupt government Karzai runs. There are many things that make Afghanistan fundamentally more difficult to manage as a COIN operation. The lack of a competent government trumps all IMHO. Please ask Foust about pre-1979 Afghanistan. Wonder if his views are different than Christian's?
Steve
