A TRAGIC MISTAKE - NYT's Herbert on Obama's Afghanistan decision

[chimpymustgo]

A Tragic Mistake

By BOB HERBERT
Published: November 30, 2009

“I hate war,” said Dwight Eisenhower, “as only a soldier who has lived it can, as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”
Skip to next paragraph

He also said, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.”

I suppose we’ll never learn. President Obama will go on TV Tuesday night to announce that he plans to send tens of thousands of additional American troops to Afghanistan to fight in a war that has lasted most of the decade and has long since failed.

After going through an extended period of highly ritualized consultations and deliberations, the president has arrived at a decision that never was much in doubt, and that will prove to be a tragic mistake. It was also, for the president, the easier option.

It would have been much more difficult for Mr. Obama to look this troubled nation in the eye and explain why it is in our best interest to begin winding down the permanent state of warfare left to us by the Bush and Cheney regime. It would have taken real courage for the commander in chief to stop feeding our young troops into the relentless meat grinder of Afghanistan, to face up to the terrible toll the war is taking — on the troops themselves and in very insidious ways on the nation as a whole.

More soldiers committed suicide this year than in any year for which we have complete records. But the military is now able to meet its recruitment goals because the young men and women who are signing up can’t find jobs in civilian life. The United States is broken — school systems are deteriorating, the economy is in shambles, homelessness and poverty rates are expanding — yet we’re nation-building in Afghanistan, sending economically distressed young people over there by the tens of thousands at an annual cost of a million dollars each.

-edit-

We still haven’t learned to recognize real strength, which is why it so often seems that the easier choice for a president is to keep the troops marching off to war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/opinion/01herbert.html?ref=opinion

*********************

Excellent, insightful, and sad commentary on this tragedy.

[eridani]

1. "We still haven’t learned to recognize real strength"

This is why LBJ escalated despite knowing better, and why Obama is doing it.

[optimator]

2. Not sure which is more disturbing

the possibility that Obama abdicated his duty as Commander in Chief out of fear or the possibility that he believes in his heart and mind that war is a solution to a problem.

[chimpymustgo]

12. Indeed - fear or stupidity.

[Major Hogwash]

3. Obama will pull out of Afghanistan eventually or he won't be reelected!!

There is no other choice.
America can not afford wars that go on for 10 years.

And we are in Year 9 now.

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. Obama will pay a price for this decision

I know that I will have an extremely difficult time voting for Obama if there is no move to end these idiotic wars.

[AngryOldDem]

5. "Afghanistan is not Vietnam."

Maybe not at the outset, but it has become one.

I cannot help but see the parallels: 2009, 1965: Escalation of troops, with the expectation of victory within a few years. 1968, 2011: Obama finally gets how badly he screwed up, as LBJ did, when it will be too late to either withdraw cleanly or to save his presidency.

If, after eight years, we have nothing substantive to show then it's time to leave. Why further bankrupt ourselves morally or financially for nothing?

If we as a nation truly think that this is the way to go, then domestically we need to be on an extreme wartime footing, the likes of which we've not seen since WWII. Also, we need to bring back the draft, without the myriad deferments that helped people like Dick Cheney, who is hugely responsible for what is happening today, escape doing what they think is the "duty" of others. If we're in this to win it, then we best act like it.

[Sebass1271]

6. you guys are a bunch of whiners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NY times want P. Obama to fail by NOT sending troops to afghanistan. They are a corporate right wing that want P. Obama to look weak. I don't freaking know you guys are so appalled by this decision!! didn't you listened to him during the campaign??? HE SAID THIS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!.. he would send more troops to afghanistan, he always thought this war was not a choice but a necessity!!..

were you sleeping at the wheel??

GOSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

[Mari333]

7. Obama has screwed the goose. he is toast after Tuesday night

every Dem I know here in my town says they wont vote for him again, let the chips fall where they may.
knr

[BeFree]

8. War, what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing.

Ya know, it's gonna be a whole lot easier now to face off the teabaggers and find some common ground. We're all gonna cuss the president.

Obama could have said NO. I hope he's happy that he made a few generals happy, cuz he's gonna need them.

[Sebass1271]

9. goo!d, let the chips fall where they may, in the hands of repubs

thank them again for their narrow minded view of how a President can make tough decisions. they are not even thankful this president took his time to deliberate his decision with an exit strategy.

your town is filled with a bunch of narrow minded liberal progressives that only vote one issue, just like right wingers are with religion, or abortion.

[Mari333]

10. its in the hands of republican lite now

no difference.

PUT DOWN THOSE CHEETOS AND ENLIST

[chimpymustgo]

15. It's so sad and enraging. So much good will and opportunity - squandered.

[Major Hogwash]

11. I guess Herbert is just another one of those dirty fucking hippys now, huh?

My mom wasn't real thrilled to find out that was what someone on the interent referred to her as, that was for sure.

[99 Percent Sure]

13. Now this was the campaign promise he should have

broken. Escalating this war, increasing troop levels, is just wrong. Most of these soldiers have served 3 or more tours of duty. The president shows an increasing lack of discernment and an inability to know whose advice is worthy of trust. Keeping Gates, choosing Summers as an econ advisor, and picking Geithner as Treasury head are clear signs of this. Now he has chosen to listen to McChrystal, a man whose veracity is nonexistent. McChrystal has proven to be a liar in the Tillman case and other instances re the Iraq occupation.

I don't care that the president is keeping his campaign promise about Afghanistan. Obviously, I'd rather he didn't.

This is a question of strength of character of our nation's leader. Either he is easily swayed by bad people or he is at his heart unfeeling when it comes to sacrificing the lives of the young.

Either way, he should refuse the Nobel Peace prize since his actions in Afghanistan demonstrate a total distaste for peace and preserving human life.

Yes, I voted for him and yes IMO this proves once again that we're always voting for the lesser of two evils rather than the better of the two candidates.

There's no justification for continuing this war; this is just wrong. Oil pipes be damned.

[chimpymustgo]

14. Excellent post, 99 percent. How CAN he accept the Nobel Peace prize? You should post this as an OP.

[99 Percent Sure]

16. Thank you, chimpymustgo. Even during the campaign, I was against his Afghanistan warmongering.

But then, I was a John Edwards woman in the beginning.

I will post an OP, once I figure out how.

Thanks again for your kind words.