Obama's Afghan strategy wins neo-con plaudits
James Forsyth 7:28pm
It has always been Barack Obama’s foreign policy instincts that have worried me most. I worried that he both did not grasp the security challenges facing the United States and that he was unwilling to expend the necessary political capital on foreign policy. Given these reservations, I was definitely encouraged by Obama’s announcement of Afghan / Pakistan strategy today. Rather than going for a purely counter-terrorism approach which would have failed in the medium-term, Obama has gone for a proper counter-insurgency approach.
Bob Kagan, whose foreign policy instincts I respect, is most impressed:
“Hats off to President Obama for making a gutsy and correct decision on Afghanistan. With many of his supporters, and some of his own advisers, calling either for a rapid exit or a “minimal” counterterrorist strategy in Afghanistan, the president announced today that he will instead expand and deepen the American commitment. He clearly believes that an effective counterterrorism approach requires an effective counterinsurgency strategy, aimed not only at killing bad guys but at strengthening Afghan civil society and governing structures, providing the necessary security to the population so that it can resist pressures from the Taliban, and significantly increasing the much-derided “nation-building” element of the strategy.”
The Pakistan element of the problem, as Richard Holbrooke admits, remains unbelievably tricky. But today’s announcement, at least, shows that Obama has no intention of abandoning Afghanistan.
PS Bill Kristol is even more effusive, declaring 'All hail Obama'.
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Herbert Thornton
March 28th, 2009 2:14am Report this commentQuite aside from the President's stance being right, it's significant that it's the policy that he advocated during his campaign for the Presidency.
It contrasts favourably with the insincerity of politicians like George Brown who make promises they have no intention of keeping.
catesby
March 28th, 2009 11:40am Report this commentHerbert Thornton
George Brown, hic..... surely you mean Gordon Bennett?
strapworld
March 28th, 2009 12:00pm Report this commentGeorge or Gordon they both were incompetents and over promoted. One ended in the gutter, the other is about to end there!
TGF UKIP
March 28th, 2009 2:22pm Report this commentJames, I would be a little more leery of Bill Kristol's motives.
As the lefty Dems neo-con bete noir, he knows full well that any embrace by him of an Obama policy statement is likely to just make things more difficult for the Annointed One. As an addict of Fox News Sunday, I am a big fan of our Bill's sense of fun and mischief.
Incidentally, "It has always been Barack Obama's foreign policy instincts that have worried me most." I'm not so sure, James. A broken American economy would have a catastrophic effect on the US's foreign policy power and credibility and I don't think I am being by any means alone in fearing the damage that could be wreaked by an irresponsible leftist President in tandem with an irresponsible leftist Congress.
Indeed, I thinks it's just a question of time before the Obama Administration makes its application to become a member of the EUSSR with the proposal that "European Union" be replaced by "Transatlantic Union."
Conservative Cabbie
March 29th, 2009 7:40am Report this commentTGF
"As an addict of Fox News Sunday,"
Best news program on television. Just wish it was the panel for the whole hour. Krauthammer is a genius.
And Paxman could learn a thing or two from Chris Wallace.
paul bass
April 7th, 2009 8:10am Report this commentwhatever happened to the right being against "nation building"..
oh wait i guess this is "continent building"
what a wonderful thing these neo conservatives are lets do every thing the soviet union did in its head long dive in to obscurity
expand nato in to the warsaw pact, check
get trapped in a quamire in afganistan, check(pakistan will just be the nuclear icing on the cake)
spend trillions of dollars to prop up our elites and there worthless corrupted institutions, check
singing the praise of our dear leader all the while, check
long live the U.S.S.A!
Oden
May 19th, 2009 10:22pm Report this commentI don't have a clue just who Lou Pritchett is but he certainly hits the nail
on the head.
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
Dear President Obama,
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no
visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad..
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one..
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
Please keep this one circulating
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