A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
No, not that date; this date:
President Obama is expected to announce his Afghanistan policy with an address to the nation next Tuesday, Dec. 1, likely in prime time, officials told POLITICO.
Obama held his ninth formal Afghanistan strategy session in the Situation Room on Monday night.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement: “After completing a rigorous final meeting, President Obama has the information he wants and needs to make his decision and he will announce that decision within days.”
…
McChrystal has argued that “success is achievable” in Afghanistan with proper resources, and 40,000 troops was his middle — and preferred — recommendation in a set of three options he presented in his own strategic review. They would join 68,000 U.S. troops there now.
The White House has emphasized that Obama has also considered alternatives to McChrystal’s plan. After a recent war council session, Obama sent his military planners back to revise their plans, saying none of the specific options he was reviewing suited him. Obama is believed to have asked the commanders to adjust the timing and make-up of the forces, including the mix of combat troops and trainers.
Because as a community organizer he knows how to marshall forces and lead men.
Well, fine. Better late than never.
But now I think we know why it took so damn long:
“The question now is, can we make sure we’re accelerating job growth? That’s my No. 1 job. Nobody’s been more disappointed than I have to see how high the unemployment rate has gotten. And I spend every waking hour, when I’m talking to my economic team, about how we are going to put people back to work.”
He spends every waking hour talking to his economic team? No. He spends every waking hour figuring out how to put people back to work? No. He spends those “waking hours” when he talks to his economic team … er … talking about economics. That comes straight from the Department of Redundancy Department.
I’ll bet he spends every waking hour, when he’s talking to his political team, about how he’s going to put himself back into the White House, too.
So disastrous has he been at all these endeavors, the dude might benefit from a few hours of sleep once in a while. And a cheeseburger—put some fat on his bones.
PS: See if Dick Cheney doesn’t agree with me.