Mostly Gutless
For those that have read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you may get the reference that my post title refers to. For those that are not, in the book by Doug Addams the guide book of all things in the universe listed Earth as harmless. After sending an alien to Earth for the updated edition of the Guide, Earth was upgraded to Mostly Harmless – before being destroyed to make way for an intergalactic highway.
That is the Obama Administration. Like it or not, that is how America is being seen across the world, especially by our enemies.
During the 2008 election cycle, that I followed and wrote about from 2007 on, President Obama stood tall on the issue of Afghanistan and protecting America. President Obama took every opportunity to attack President Bush and any member of Congress that was in any way connected to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Obama made it clear, in speech after speech, that he had a decisive plan to win the war in Afghanistan and would stop at nothing to bring Osama Bin Laden and Al Queada to justice.
Then President Obama was elected. He fired the General that had been in charge of Afghanistan and brought in General McChrystal. He made it clear that he wanted results, and stated he would listen to his commanders in the feild to ensure victory can be had.
The world was watching.
During the summer, some 6 months into his Administration, President Obama was presented with a rather basic request. Send more troops to Afghanistan to defend the troops already there and to help win the war. It has been over 110 days since that request was made, and not one soldier extra has been sent nor has any decision been made.
For 2 months President Obama avoided every aspect of the formal request for troops. For 100 days (at that time) President Obama ignored his own hand-picked General. He then met the General for I believe the 3rd timesince deploying him, for exactly 30 minutes and still refused to give an answer.
All the while the world was watching.
President Obama traveled the globe in the meantime. He took a joyride to Demark for a useless attempt to bring the Olympics as a reward for political cronnies in Chicago – the first time I am aware of a President making such an appeal. President Obama also traveled to Asia, where he embarrassed Japan and America with defference that indicated a disdain for our most ardent ally England and weakness. Then he went to China to be publicly scolded for his spendthrift economic policy. Along the way he lost all support for his much hyped initiatives for global warming that will bring him back to Demark in December.
Still there was no answer about Afghanistan, though a timely excuse did arise. Suddenly the issue of the corruption in the Afghan political structure was given as the delays reason. A political corruption that has existed for decades and arguably centuries. A corruption that will continue to exist for decades more no matter what is done. A corruption that has NOTHING to do with the purpose of the requested troops – protecting our own.
Now over 110 days after news of the request was first made public, the Obama Administration says they are almost ready to make a decision. We just need to wait another week.
Perhaps the Obama Administration hopes that in yet another week of waiting Americans will have completely forgotten every promise madeover a year ago. Perhaps the Obama Administration hopes that news of a flawed and completely Democrat-only Health Care Reform Bill being pushed through Congress against the will of the public will distract from the delay and message of afghanistan. Perhaps President Obama hopes Americans will be too busy trying to borrow from Peter to pay Paul and buy a few holiday gifts at prices marked down so low that retailer still will likely lose money even if buyers do show up.
But many Americans will not be distracted. And the rest of the world surely has not been. In fact various allies of America have had enough balls to step up and make commitments in Afghanistan while America was lost in a fog of intellectual reflection and fear of polling data.
I expect ANY President to be decisive when it comes to Americans in harm’s way. I expect that decisiveness to be even more sharp and quick when those in danger are the very people protecting this nation from threats that would see us all dead just for existing. That’s what President Obama campaigned on, that’s what he promised, that’s why he was elected.
But President Obama has proven thus far to be a gutless President. A President so wrapped up in maintaining his political base, and trying to appease every international government, that he is frozen with indecision. He appears to be afraid of living up to his word or offending the very people we are fighting against. He has not only been less effective than his predecessor, he had made America weaker while doing so.
But I will say that President Obama is mostly gutless because he will finally be making a plan. He will finally detail a decision. Given that the decision appears to be (according to political rumors) a middle road that does not effectively do anything his detractors or supporter want. A decision that is the hallmark of a weak leader, and failure in the battlefeild. Still it is an action, which is more than we have had for very nearly half a year.
There may be some that wish to brand me a sell-out to my race for what I have said. There may be some that will claim that I am a racist. But as I learned in the Marine Corps there is only one type of American, a true American. To criticize the President for what he has done and not done is not based on the color of his skin or his political affiliation. Such arguments are just a means of distracting from the issue at hand. And I will not be distracted, and neither should be my readers.
I can only hope that as the scanners of the Govrnment, in particular the NSA and FBI, read this post and others like it that the White House is reminded that promises were made, troops require a Commander-n-Chief (not a pollslter), and we cannot win a war in retreat.
