Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo
Obama’s decision-making process in full:
Eeny, meeny, miney, mo,
Catch a mullah by the toe.
If he ululates, let him go,
And blame pre-traumatic stress disorder.
Senior administration officials tell ABC News that President Obama at his war council meeting tomorrow will assess five different specific strategies for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the recommendations put forward by Gen. Stanley McChrystal being one of those five strategies.
At his meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, October 30, President Obama asked Pentagon officials to assess in detail the four other strategy options — missions, troop requirements, cost. All five options increase the levels of US troops in Afghanistan. The president has not yet been presented with those four new assessments.
All five options will be discussed in detail when the Joint Chiefs and other senior officials meet with the President tomorrow.
Because General McChrystal just threw a number out there, and President Obama knows better? He’s going to give him 38,500 soldiers, instead of the 40,000 requested, and make up the difference by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare?
Why is this so hard?
Candidate Obama was squarely behind the war in Afghanistan, and even wanted to take it into Pakistan. (I applauded the sheer bloodthirstiness of such a strategy, even as I questioned its effectiveness .) Now, he’s all wonk and no warrior.
It’s a real-life (and death) war, Mr. President, with American soldiers dying everyday you dither (according to Dick Cheney) and dilly-dally (according to retired General Zinni). The time for community organizing is over (to use your favorite phrase when silencing dissent).
Lead, follow, or dear God please get out of the way.
Pavel said,
November 10, 2009 @ 11:50 am
I have no doubt Obama really wishes there was a “get out of the way” option. He wants to vote Present because whatever he does, he’s going to piss off a lot of people and his ego can’t take it.
He cannot get his head around the fact that failure to make a decision is a one way of making a decision.
As one pundit said, he’s becoming Jimmy Carter even faster than Jimmy Carter did.