The WaPo On McCain v. Obama On Afghanistan

Dan Balz covers the McCain-Obama tango on Afghanistan strategy.  McCain favors more troops, Obama favors more time for reflection, and the shadow of past Iraq debates hangs over all:

Obama has not tipped his hand, though talk of seeking a new strategy suggests he is not yet ready to embrace such a sizeable troop increase. McCain has emerged as the most visible advocate for more troops, just as he was when former President George W. Bush was considering whether to implement a troop surge in Iraq almost three years ago.

That is early in the story - it is only later that Obama's spotty record as a strategist is reprised:

Obama and McCain long have been divided on U.S. war strategy. Obama argued that Iraq was a war that never should have been fought; McCain was a strong advocate of the invasion. Obama opposed Bush's surge when McCain supported it. When, by fall 2008, the surge had helped reduce the violence, McCain pressed Obama to admit he had been mistaken. Obama said the surge had helped but would not say he was wrong.

It's a bit late for Obama to apply any retroactive genius to the merits of invading Afghanistan, which was the good war and the central front in the war on terror just a few months ago.  Obama's opposition to the Iraqi surge was almost surely a political calculation (or did he draw on his vast military experience?) and he guessed right on the politics (Hey, he is not just President, he is a Nobel Laureate!) even though he was wrong on the outcome.

Comments

[Gregory Koster]

Once more, I call on the Superior Wisdom of JOM to explain to me how McC can be sensible, steady, and resolute on defense and foreign affairs, and a zany without sense or dignity on dam near everything else.

Even The Once can't believe that he can stall Afghanistan until he can dump it on someone else's lap? Or am I spitting in God's eye by saying this?

[narciso]

He's the son and grandson of Admirals, If it wasn't for the Hanoi Hilton, he might have made Admiral. So the military culture
comes readily to him. I say might have because he was the original 'drinking flying, (fill in the blank) type we saw in the Right stuff. The real Maverick.This progressive turn comes from in large part from the ethical 'purging' that he went through from the Keating affair, that made him an easy mark for the CFR, AGWpromoters, etc. IMHO.

[Danube of Thought]

He was never going to be selected for Admiral--not even close.

I am very confident that Obama won't send 40,000 troops. (I'm not sure it would be possible to do so.) I honestly don't see any way out of this for him.

[narciso]

Well that's why I put the caveat in there, Danube, clearly he was a mustang or what ever the naval equivalent is, and he doesn't
really handle authority well, which is curious considering his career path

[H/t to Smokey.]

Hitler explains Yamal. Yahoo Hitler vs AGW and follow the tomnelson.blogspot link to an excellent video. Now I have to google Penny Wong; I didn't get that line.
============================

[Original MikeS]

I look for the Taliban to launch some large and risky attacks in an attempt to sway Obama.

I wish Obama would take the same cautious approach he uses for Afghanistan on the dangerous health care experiment.

The strategy in Afghanistan can be changed much more easily than ObamaCare could be repealed.

[Seven years of higher re-education makes a man smart.]

McCain comes from a line of warriors; I've little doubt that he'd have found a way to improve in Afghanistan. I've little doubt I've not much else use for him. I'll never forgive him for the Swifties. And I think he'd have preferred Lieberman to Palin, and thinks he'd have won with him, too. So, there's that.

A Philosopher worth reading at the Link Under Name
==============================

[If I'd bet on Old Stewball.]

I think maverick fits, n; a mustang is an officer risen from the ranks.
==================================

[narciso]

His audacity only goes one way, Mike and no contrary examples seem to pass his brow, The attitudes he exhibited in the 1983 student publication, seems to be set in stone. There was really one student I could
see, a Panamanian radical who had a similar view in my experience

[justonebullet]

Obama must achieve something tangible over the next two months or he'll look silly accepting the award in Oslo. The start of talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis will, without doubt, be greeted with great fanfare and a great achievement by the Obama crew and the Norwegians. Wait a minute, didn't Arafat and Ehud Barack meet at Camp David in the final months of Bill Clinton's presidency? So why wasn't Clinton given the Peace Prize for his great efforts to overshadow the Blowjob Scandal?

[hit and run]

Seeing on twitter that Obama is ending don't ask don't tell.

[PD]

Obama has not tipped his hand

That's masterful writing by Balz, to be able to rephrase "Obama dithers while troops fight, bleed, and die" so that it sounds as through Obama is a strategic genius.

[hit and run]

Oh wait, Ambinder puts Obama's words this way:

"I will end DADT; that is my commitment to you."

Uh, like closing Guantanamo in one year?

That's a vague statement, very Obama-like, and not something anyone could put any stock in.

[Extraneus]

Speaking of DODT, Iowahawk isn't letting up on Andrew Sullivan.

...something in the way he minced throbbed with danger.

[Soylent Red]

Let's not give McCain to much credit for understanding COIN just yet.

He supported troop increases because of the Powell Doctrine (fundamentally about maneuver, not COIN), not because of the Petraeus Surge Theory (just the opposite). That PoS Chuck Hagel was in the same camp. I honor both men for their service, and McCain in particular for his, but that's about as far as I can go. They're both self-promoting squishes who prove that sometimes people make the right decisions for all the wrong reasons.

[narciso]

Thats the thing, I think the only part that Kathleen Parker in that long diatribe, is that McCain did see Palin, as a kindred spirit, which makes his subsequent muzzling of her, kind of a mystery.

Mustang wasn't the word I was going for, what's the word for those West Pointers that finished at the bottom of their class.
MacChrystal is much more Sam Damon than Courtney Massengale. probably closest to Edwin Lansdale in type. The Phillipine and Malaya insurgency show it can be done, yet
crickets seem to be the operative answer.

[PD]

what's the word for those West Pointers that finished at the bottom of their class.

Dead-enders?

[Elliott]

Goats?

[PD]

I went over to Iowahawk and started reading that piece.

I'm ashamed to admit (but not too ashamed to admit I'm ashamed!) that I'm now giggling wildly, and my sweetie is now looking at me with her "Oh, brother, what's he reading NOW?" look.

[Porchlight]

Goats, I think, PD.

[Porchlight]

Duh..need to refresh faster.

[Original MikeS]

Obama has not tipped his hand.

Sadly, this isn't poker, and Obama the only one who has a vote.

[clarice]

Iowahawk's is the most devastating take on Sullivan EVAH..No one can come close to that nor should anyone try.

[narciso]

That's the word, I was searching for,Elliot,
but I didn't know the equivalent Navy term.
You're right about Hagel, Gates possible replacement, who doesn't really think of counterinsurgency strategy either. He really
thinks that being able to sell cellphones to the Iranians, is the key to everything. He would have recited quite nearly a cliched
speech if he had gotten the prize.

That ending bit in Iowahawk's piece, is like
when the Scarecrow gasses Mr, Moroni the mob boss, but one would have to assume Sullivan had been sane before, a tall order

[Extraneus]

The man can turn a phrase.

I screamed uncontrollably as the room slowly filled with the musky acrid stench of my burning body hair. Suddenly an alarm rang.

"Okay sweetie, your 20 minutes are up," he said. "Same time next week?"

[clarice]

"It's not everyday a stranger drops by my office packing fudge"

HEH!
and

"My whole world was spinning, but I had been unable to get him off my mind ever since he walked through my office door. I was obsessed by him, and wondered whether I would ever get the chance to be in his arms, to be lovers, to go antiquing together"

[PD]

OT: In the clearest indication yet that the economy is not recovering, a Monster Truck show here in Madison has been canceled due to poor ticket sales.

[JorgXMcKie]

I believe that midshipman who graduates at the bottom of his class is referred to as either the "Anchor" or the "Goat".

[Jim Ryan]

I'm not going to click that Iowahawk link because I think I already tore something in my larynx just reading the excerpts here.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

And now for something completely different, Obama just promised to end "don't ask don't tell" and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

Twelve members of the audience had to be rushed to the hospital after being overcome by waves of deja vu.

[clarice]

That deja vu is really deadly as I've always said.

[Dr. Goat Glandhad.]

What do you call the student who finishes last in the medical school class?
=============================

[clarice]

PD, I keep forgetting you live in Madison. Did I tell you "Whadda ya know" is my B-I-L?

[Jim Ryan]

It's very important that Obama first handle don't ask don't tell and DOMA. Afterwards, he can get to Afghanistan and the economy, but first he needs to devote some energy to gays. The economy and Afghanistan can wait. They've already waited over half a year, so they can wait. Hang on a sec, after gays, he should do Cap 'n' Trade and government health care. Then get to the economy and Afghanistan. We have to get gays, government health care, and Cap 'n' Trade done first. Wait, NEA. He's got to get the NEA on board with the other policies I mentioned. That's top priority. Then, he can move on to whatever the hell it was. Oh, yes, Afghanistan and the economy (which are conservative's issues, when you think about it, not really that important.)

[Jim Ryan]

Ladies, I have a friend who is looking to date a lady. Here's his picture. Any inquiries considered.

[Jim Ryan]

Dennis has this week's Sullivan quote. It's so abhorrently illogical that I won't bring it in here.

[Thomas Collins]

Finish last in the class in the worst med school (I embellished, because that was how the joke was told to me)? What do they call you? DOCTOR!

[Sue]

Jim,

Hoo-doggy!

[Jim Ryan]

Wait a sec. I just remembered it's Obama. He's only still campaigning. He won't actually do anything about Don't Ask Don't Tell.

[PD]

Did I tell you "Whadda ya know" is my B-I-L?

No, you didn't.

Do I risk any wrath if I admit I've never listened once?

[PD]

It's very important that Obama first handle don't ask don't tell and DOMA. Afterwards, he can get to Afghanistan and the economy, but first he needs to devote some energy to gays.

After he gets in his basketball, of course.

[DrJ]

Finish last in the class in the worst med school ? What do they call you? DOCTOR!

I know that's the joke, but it doesn't always work that way.

I had eye surgery on Friday, and one of the steps is to have one's eyes dilated and the anesthesia administered (among the various potions of eye of newt that are administered). In the past that was always done by a tech, but there was a different person who did this function this time.

I figured it was just a high-ranked tech, and addressed said person as such. It turns out the he was a resident, so he actually had an MD.

He was good-natured about it, for which I gave him credit.

But I didn't call him DOCTOR! Nor did he me, so I suppose we were equal in a sense.

[JM Hanes]

"When, by fall 2008, the surge had helped reduce the violence...."

Obama doesn't seem to be the only one who hasn't exactly come to terms with the significance -- and the outcome -- of the surge.

Soylent:

I think you're absolutely right about McCain. He was calling for Shinseki boots, not Petraeus boots, although he certainly got on board with the COIN push at the very start, whether he really understood the distinction or not.

[Gregory Koster]

Tom sez: "Finish last in the class in the worst med school (I embellished, because that was how the joke was told to me)? What do they call you?"

The White House Physician, I hope.

[peter]

Clarice,
I agree, Iowahawk took down Andrew Sullivan today in magnificent fashion. The guy's a genius.

[Pofarmer]

(I'm not sure it would be possible to do so.)

Why wouldn't it be possible to rotate 40,000 through Afghanistan?

We could pull 20,000 out of Kososvo.

[bgates]

Obama said the surge had helped but would not say he was wrong.

I'm so glad to have a President who has the courage to maintain his convictions in the face of such adversity, not like the last guy and his arrogant, stubborn refusal to admit to any mistakes.

[JM Hanes]

Charlie:

"And now for something completely different, Obama just promised to end "don't ask don't tell" and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act."

Instapundit linked the Don't Ask story, which includes this bit of emblematic Obamania:

Obama said it was no secret "our progress may be taking longer than we like." He followed this by asking supporters to trust his administration's course. "I appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast enough," Obama said. "Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach."

In a ceremony next week, the HRC will be vesting him with their highest honor, the Good Intentions Road to Hell Medal. I suspect some similar parsing when "Obama also called on Congress to repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act," because I believe the Justice Dept. is currently defending it in court.

[JM Hanes]

Well shoot, there's a whole new thread for that last post. Movin' it over.

[justonebullet]

The Republicans are in a heap of trouble if McCain, the best man the party could offer in 2008, still has a role.