SecDef Gates Exhorts NATO Allies To Pander More Responsibly On Afghanistan

Secretary of Defense Gates decried NATO's talk of withdrawal from Afghanistan and urged them to pander to their restive voters responsibly, like Barack:

BRUSSELS — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates sharply rebuked the United States’ allies on Friday for preparing to effectively abandon Afghanistan, threatening what he described as tenuous progress in the nearly decade-old war.

In a deliberately undiplomatic speech to NATO defense ministers, Mr. Gates called on European allies to put aside their domestic politics and work with the United States to secure the “semblance of normalcy” that he said was emerging in some parts of Afghanistan.

“Frankly, there is too much talk about leaving and not enough talk about getting the job done right,” Mr. Gates said. “Too much discussion of exit and not enough discussion about continuing the fight. Too much concern about when and how many troops might redeploy and not enough about what needs to be done before they leave.”

Obviously, this is a bit of an awkward message coming from the country whose President announced the Hokey-Pokey surge (We put the new troops in, we take the new troops out...) in December 2009 in order to achieve his own domestic political goals.  Gates tackled this head-on:

Mr. Gates made clear that the initial American troop withdrawals ordered for July by President Obama would be limited, perhaps to no more than several thousand troops. Pointedly, he told NATO that “we will not sacrifice the significant gains made to date, or the lives lost, for a political gesture.”

That's the ticket!  Obama's pandering on troop withdrawals is old news and will be implemented prudently. Now the Euros need to get on board:

The defense secretary’s speech was aimed at a European continent where the war, a retaliation for the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that was supposed to be over in months, has become more and more unpopular. Mr. Gates mentioned no specific countries, but two important nations that have announced or are considering withdrawals are Germany and Britain. Between them, they have 13,900 troops in Afghanistan. The United States has about 100,000 soldiers in the country.

The German Parliament voted in January to begin withdrawing its 4,900 soldiers by the end of this year, the first time that Germany, which has the third-largest number of troops in Afghanistan, set a time frame for bringing its men and women home. Britain, which has the second-largest contingent, with about 9,000 troops, said in December that it was “possible” that its forces would start leaving this year.

Right, then = Germany can "begin" to withdraw their troops by bringing a few hundred home; same ploy with Britain.

Very Barackian. Later he'll close Gitmo.

Comments

[hit and run]

If only the chairman of the Senate subcommittee with oversight of NATO affairs was still Obama,this kinda thing wouldn't be happening.

[Ignatz]

I wonder if Gates thinks he undercut this argument by telling our own future officer corps, a couple of weeks ago, that a future defense secretary "should have his head examined" if he advises a president to fight a war like the one he's now telling NATO not to abandon.

My regard for Gates continues its relentless decline.

[clarice feldman]

Come now..He's a perfect fit for this administration. Per Le Monde, BTW, The Libyan rebels have finally caught on and are calling Obama a Liar for promising aid and delivering nothing.

[Porchlight]

Posted this on the other thread:

NYT:Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”

[hit and run]

NYT:Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China.

"I like being president. And it turns out I'm very good at it."
--stuff Obama used to think

[BB Key]

OT
Will CSPAN hire James O'Keefe to tape the Gridiron Club Dinner ?

[Danube of Thought]

"Too much discussion of exit and not enough discussion about continuing the fight. Too much concern about when and how many troops might redeploy and not enough about what needs to be done before they leave.”

Can he possibly be talking about anyone other than Barack H. Ofuckingbama?

[narciso]

So it turns out, that the fellow who greased Mouammar's return into 'polite society, Mark Allen, (as Christopher Dickey reminds us, Lord
Allen) was one of those Armitage like weasels
on the Iraq question, who not only consulted
for BP, but the LSE and the Monitor group, in otherwords, everywhere 'blood money' could be had

[Neo]

Our NATO allies have always doubted that the US would start a nuclear war to save them.
Now, they show that their doubts should manifest into reality.

[narciso]

This is the link, I was pointing to, in the LUN

[matt]

got an e mail last night from the Stan. A friend tells me that a huge number of the villages in the country have yet to see anyone from ISAF or the government. This is where the insurgency flourishes.

Their news comes from the Taliban, and young Mohammed is bringing home $250/month for shooting RPG's at Americans.When we knock off or maim young Mohammed, the whole family takes it personal and thus begins a vendetta and the whole thing slides into an even bigger mess.

Rumsfeld at least believed his own BS. Gates is simply an apparatchik and a tool.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

The WOn is telling us not to worry about the price of oil, he has common sense standards and so it's all good, plus we had the worst oil spill in history. (Odd that he gets the worst of everything)

[narciso]

He shut down the gulf, with a fraudulent moratorium, the only real reserve we have,
he then guaranteed Petrobras and PEMEX in it's exploration, it's unreal

[MayBee]

President sounding very petulant today

[MayBee]

I wonder what an 8.9 earthquake does to windmills.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

AS he should Maybee. How dare another crisis force him to actually think. That's twice this week. He needs a raise.

[Danube of Thought]

He is petulant by his very nature. An disastrous characteristic in a person charged with leadership.

[Ignatz]

--plus we had the worst oil spill in history--

Which, like every other oil spill in history, did almost nothing except for a little bit of local staining and some economic harm, caused by man's stupid response, not the oil itself.
It certainly caused a tiny fraction of the harm Barry and Salazar's imbecilic response has.

[Ignatz]

Somebody was asking where Pelosi is these days.
She's back, transformed into a bible thumping, theocratic, fundamentalist. She's kinda crazy.

[PD]

So Obama's going to be keeping a sharp eye out for price gouging, while doing ... what? ... to increase domestic production.

[PD]

So Obama thinks we need to gradually decrease demand for oil?

How do we do that, start flying our personal trainer between Chicago and DC less often?

[Danube of Thought]

Prof. Jacobson says that the most important vote in Wisconsin

...will be taken with the feet of tens of thousands of Wisconsin public employee union members, who will have the choice for the first time in memory of deciding whether to join the union and pay the union dues, which have been estimated in the $700-1000 per year range.

Does anyone know when these votes will occur, and whether the results are likely to be published?

[maryrose]

Obama's finally crawled out from under his desk and is now yammering trying to improve his tattered image while I am forced to miss my soap operas. Why does every channel except our own Fox 8 news have to cover his Oneness?

[MayBee]

Remember the guy Obama met when he was running for president, the guy in the Boston bar who was unemployed but couldn't drive around to look for a job because of high gas prices?

We haven't heard about him for a while.

[Ignatz]

Joel Kotkin at Forbes on the increasing gap in reality between the San Fran elites and the blue collar whites and Hispanics who are being destroyed by the insane policies of those creepy elites in California and how little the compassionate lefties actually care about those consequences.

[centralcal]

Tammy Bruce and Jim Geraghty are pretty much live tweeting (and critiquing) Obama's presser.

Sounds like the usual nonsense, etc. I love how Tammy always refers to him as Urkel!!!!

[Captain Hate]

I love how Tammy always refers to him as Urkel!!!!

I have to take issue with this; she also refers to him as "that dumb bastard in the White House". Should be an interesting show @ 2

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

What a ridiculous press conference. No hard questions, all stupid answers.

[maryrose]

Lol centracal:
Urkel it is! Got any cheese? My son actually got a talking Urkel doll when he was younger. Sounds just like Obama. Another famous line of his was "Did I do that?" Crash our economy by making 25% the new normal? Yeah Obama you did.

[Neo]

Watch the woman on the right when Pelosi utters "biblical power to cure" ... she is bobbing her head in agreement until Pelosi says it, then has a puzzled look.

[centralcal]

Captain, I stand corrected! Shouldn't have said "always." Yep, I love it when she refers to him as "dumb bastard," too.

[centralcal]

My favorite tweet so far this morning:

@HeyTammyBruce Tammy Bruce
When is a reporter going to ask Obama "What is wrong with you?"

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

A particularly robotic performance by Obama this morning. Formulaic talking points are inserted in his answers to the questions even when they don't answer the question asked. If this happened in testimony in court or in deposition, an objection - non-responsive - would be sustained to most of those answers.

[MayBee]

Hilarious, neo!

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I wonder what an 8.9 earthquake does to windmills.

Maybee, you're evil. Teehee. A really good question, what does happen. Me thinks they topple over.

[narciso]

So Scarborough, in the Hill, says Cornyn wanted him for Nelson's seat, who to believe,

[Danube of Thought]

I remember Kotkin way back in the day when he was quite the Lefty at Berkeley.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I've posted so many earthquake updates in the other thread it is making me fill in a captcha even when I don't link anything.

[PD]

Maybee, you're evil. Teehee. A really good question, what does happen. Me thinks they topple over.

Perhaps, but they're usually on hilltops, not at lower elevations.

[Captain Hate]

cc, I'm waiting for teh Tam to call out the MFM reporters for treating Urkel like a retarded child.

narc, Scarblowhard might be a lot of negative things but he's not a liar about something that would impact him personally. Cornyn is inept enough to have said one thing and meant another. That's why he's one of the Top Men.

[hit and run]

Krugman:
...you have to realize...the nation is not, in fact, “broke.”

I hope your sigh of relief is every bit as grateful as mine was upon having to realize this.

[MayBee]

Perhaps, but they're usually on hilltops, not at lower elevations.

Are hilltops immune to 8.9 earthquakes?

[narciso]

He's more like one of Winthorpe's pals at the Harvard Club, chip something or other.

[MayBee]

And don't they want to build a big windmill farm in the water in Cape Cod?

[Army of Davids]

Iraq and Afghanistan together cost the taxpayer around $150 billion a year.

We have a deficit the last 2 years in the $1.5 trillion range.

For or opposed to action in Iraq/Afghanistan...it is about 1/10th of the annual deficit.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

We have a wind farm out towards Palm Springs that runs up the valley between two mountains. I'm told that it is a natural wind tunnel the way the Columbia River Gorge is up in Portland, OR.

I actually think it is quite beautiful, like rows of sculptures.

[Ignatz]

--I wonder what an 8.9 earthquake does to windmills.--

Doesn't appear too friendly to oil refineries or nuclear plants either.

[Captain Hate]

Great comment at AoS: BOzo is like a blister; he always shows up when the work is done.

[MayBee]

Ig- yeah, but fwith Obama I suspect the earthquake dangers for oil refineries and nuclear plants will soon become a teachable moment.

[matt]

so in Libya Qadaffi is using heavy weapons against civilians, Japan just had a hellacious earthquake, the poor brethren in Europe are begging for a bailout from Brussels, and the public sector unions are on the warpath trying to assert their primacy at the trough.

And this assclown votes "present" and tells someone the president of China doesn't get asked these hard questions as he breezes through another Stalin style press conference.

"Mr. President, what about the wheat crop?"

"We are exceeding the 5 year plan by 3,000%"

And then the legacy media ingores a complete perversion of the truth at NPR as the Times becomes nothing more than a poorly researched, poorly written attack dog for the leftist element of the Dem Party. Cuomo gets a hall pass as they crucify Christie.

It is truly an evil bearded Spock universe we are living in.

[Captain Hate]

BOzo mentioned nothing about Wisconsin at his presser, no? And the MFM didn't ask any pointed questions on it? Shocka!

[narciso]

No, the chocolate ration, will go up, five grams and Unperson Ogilvy will get the Medal
of Merit, strike that. Then again, he could
be following George Constanza's 'it's not a lie, if you believe it'

[MayBee]

Someone asked about this, but apparently we are sending diesel generators to Japan, not coolant.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

An old friend from h.s. on my Facebook Friends list was talking with me this morning. He is trying to retire, but he owns an insurance company in CT and doesn't seem to be able to cut back all the way. Anyway, he was telling me he's about to head to the Fla Keys for some fishing. A few months ago he was in Montana hunting and somewhere else just after that skiing. So this morning I was teasing him that he takes more vacations than Obama. As soon as I hit enter, it occurred to me that I have no idea what his politics are and I was gritting my teeth, hoping I hadn't offended him.

He came back, yes I think I do, but I actually do some work in between (the vacations) and I don't expect you to pay for me. Phew!

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Maybee: It was just reported that the US Air Force has arrived with an emergency supply of coolant.

[Dave (in MA)]

A facebook friend just sent a reminder that along with setting your clocks ahead this weekend, remember to put fresh batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon dioxide alarms.

Don't give Al Gore any ideas.

[Captain Hate]

Tammy just mentioned that nothing was said by Urkel nor his ferrets in the media about Wisconsin, which means it was a massive defeat for him and them. I love the smell of victory.

[MayBee]

Obama to Tapper: " President Obama has directed Energy Secretary Steve Chu “to be in close contact with their personnel to provide any assistance that's necessary, but also to make sure that if in fact there have been breaches in the safety system on these nuclear plants, that they're dealt with right away.”"

Yeah, the Japanese need our Energy Secretary overseeing them and making sure they deal with the safety situation. What a jerk.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

And this assclown votes "present" and tells someone the president of China doesn't get asked these hard questions

in Tahrir Square. Don't forget that part. The fact that Hu Jintao is in China and not Cairo may be one reason he isn't asked questions in Tahrir Square.

[Captain Hate]

Goddammit. Another time change this weekend? Stupidest idea ever. Future historians will be as confused by that as global warming.

[Captain Hate]

Has anybody put forth the idea that there's no way BOzo will help the Libyan rebels because they chanted Bush's name for assistance? Not that Preznit Smoove would do anything anyway.

[narciso]

We borrowed that from the Germans, who had just the last war, not for that reason, but
it probably didn't help.

[MayBee]

Oh, everything Obama says irks me.
Also today:

Asked by Toshi Ogata with the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun for a personal reaction to today’s events, the president said “when you see what's happening in Japan, you are reminded that, for all our differences in culture or language or religion, that ultimately humanity is one. And when we face these kinds of natural disasters, whether it's in New Zealand or Haiti or Japan, then you think about your own family, and you think, how would you feel if you lost a loved one, or if your entire life savings were gone because of the devastation?”

He makes it sound like Japan is some mysterious foreign entity. I cannot imagine a Japanese Prime Minister talking about the US as being so different in culture and language and religion and it takes a disaster to remind them of our humanity.
As a nation, they are a close ally! They are our friends! Who looked at what was happening and thought, "Well, they've always seemed so foreign but I bet they feel just like *me*"?

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Fox reporting that quake ripped hole in earth's crust 150 miles long and 50 miles wide. Holy cow.

[Danube of Thought]

Do you folks see Tammy on the tube, or is she just on radio?

[sbw]

Time change? How much? An hour and 45 minutes?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I wonder what an 8.9 earthquake does to windmills.

Shakes'em.

[narciso]

Alright, who on Fox said that, and did they show any proof.

[Captain Hate]

She makes occasional appearances on BOR, cc; but I hear her show online.

[Ignatz]

--Fox reporting that quake ripped hole in earth's crust 150 miles long and 50 miles wide. Holy cow.--

An area that size may nave been displaced and or moved but a hole that size would involve several millions casualties and, were it an actual hole in the crust, would cause the entire island chain of Japan to be buried under miles of magma.

[Sandy Daze]

But when it came to real charity, such as when the Japanese people suffered a horrific earthquake in 1923 that ultimately toppled the government, Coolidge acted decisively. Before the Japanese fleet had itself even arrived, Coolidge dispatched the Asiatic fleet to minister to the wounded after an earthquake, tsunami, and typhoon rocked Tokyo and Yokohama, killing more than 143,000 people and injuring over a 100,000.

Read it all !

But what about the 'Asiatic fleet' today?

The US Navy has dispatched 8 ships in response to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan today.

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)
USS Chancellorsville (CG 62)
USS Preble (DDG 88)
USS Essex (LHD 2)
USS Germantown (LSD 42)
USS Tortuga (LSD 46)
USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49)
USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19)

There are around 17,000 Marines in Japan that may be called to use, and I suspect we will be hearing about the USS George Washington (CVN 73) soon.

There are also USAF assets and not doubt MSC assets are en route.

Little know outside of Iraq, but the Government and people of Japan were second only to the USA in responding with financial assistance to teh new Government of Iraq. Yep, the initial package was for USD $5 Billion in direct aid and material assistance. A subsequent ! USD $2.5 Billion has been guaranteed, as the GoI is able to absorb it.

Earlier today I wrote to a couple JP diplos I've known here, expressing my sympathy, saying, "at a time like this, we are all Japanese."

Take good care,
Sandy

ibama delinda est

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I actually think it is quite beautiful, like rows of sculptures.

Yeah, I really like them too. Is that the farm out by Tehachapi?

The Federal renewable energy lab is visible from my apartment, I like those too, although they don't seem to work very often.

[Danube of Thought]

Who on Fox said what, Narc?

[Danube of Thought]

I think of the Japanese as among the most fascinating and remarkable people on earth.

[narciso]

about the tear in the crust, 7500 square miles

[Henry]

RE hole in the crust, from AP via Drudge...

"David Applegate, a senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards for the U.S. Geological Survey, said the 8.9-magnitude quake ruptured a patch of the earth's crust 150 miles long and 50 miles across."

sensational, but not very informative.

[clarice feldman]

MayBee, It does occur to me that his fellow Americans are not quite the racist ignorant boobs he takes us to be. Of course, only voting that poseur out of office will prove that to me.

[matt]

my thoughts on president "Present"'s response to the Sendai earthquake. LUN

[PD]

Are hilltops immune to 8.9 earthquakes?

I was thinking more about the susceptibility to flooding. You're right, of course.

[Jim Ryan]

Listening to Obama, a newly-arrived alien from another planet would conclude that he's long been both a "drill baby drill" guy and a deficit hawk.

[Janet]

I actually think it is quite beautiful, like rows of sculptures.

Maybe all the oil companies needed to do was "dress up" their rigs like art. Have Christo wrap the pumpjack in fabric....& we could have some fuel for our cars & homes.

[BR]

Sara and Charlie, beauty in the eye of the beholder, hey?
I think those windmills are an eyesore on any country's landscape and interfere with the natural flow. Whenever I think of them, I do sideways karate sweeps and they fall like matchsticks.

[Ignatz]

Jazz Shaw at Hotair debunks today's liar in chief's petroleum claims here and here.

[hit and run]

matt:
my thoughts on president "Present"'s response to the Sendai earthquake

Excellent stuff.

But I must quibble with one thing.

The WaPo gives us this:
Mr. Obama, who skipped a meeting of his top aides on Libya Wednesday, may hope...

Even "present" is too generous. He's not even showing up anymore.

But it's ok. He's got the audacity of hope.

[PD]

I actually think it is quite beautiful, like rows of sculptures.

Wow, really?

When I see rows of these things driving through MN or IA, I think they're a blight on the landscape, fouling hilltop after hilltop.

[PD]

I'm seeing signs start to appear in town.

Back window of car: Pink sign saying, "Walker Your Pink Slip is Coming!" Yeah, good luck with that.

Front yard, sign with stop sign: "STOP the attack on workers' rights!" How about STOP the ability of the public sector guilds to reach into taxpayer wallets?

I like this commercial on the local radio station that airs Rush: "Since your teachers refuse to teach you, why not listen to us and let Vicki McKenna be your 'substitute teacher'?" (she's the local conservative talk-radio host)

[Ignatz]

--I think those windmills are an eyesore on any country's landscape and interfere with the natural flow.--

Here's an excellent article on the beauty of wind farms. All three major CA farms are either non-op or only operate part time.
The one in Palm Springs apparently has been slated for removal.

[Janet]

Yeah, I think they look terrible.

[Frau Rudi Diesel]

"The WOn is telling us not to worry about the price of oil."
Wow! Pres.Kewl is so on top of all things automotive that Iowahawk could learn from him. (I hope Barry's Chicago clunker is available for his presidential library.)

Perhaps Nancy Pelosi's 2006 "master gas plan" is being hauled out to save us from further agony at the pump. Locally, diesel is approaching $4.50.

Speaking of diesel: "Circumstances of Rudolf Diesel’s death are considered to be a suspicious enigma for us even now.
Dr. Rudolf Diesel boarded “SS Dresden”, a cross-channel ferry, at Antwerp in September 1913. He was going to see the newest diesel engine factory of London. The famous engineer was invited as a guest of honor to the opening of that factory. He was traveling alone. After dinner Rudolf Diesel went to his cabin at about 10 p.m. and that was the last time anyone saw him alive. His cabin turned out to be absolutely empty next morning on September, 30. There were only his coat and hat left on the deck."

[Frau Rudi Diesel]

I heard the windmills in Hawaii have rusted away and are just junk.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Charlie: It is the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm

[sbw]

Obama: “when you see what's happening in Japan, you are reminded that, for all our differences in culture or language or religion, that ultimately humanity is one."

Twit!

No. Small-minded twit!

[Threadkiller]

They are.

Wind Energy's Ghosts

"The sound floats on the winds of Ka Le, this southernmost tip of Hawaii's Big Island, where Polynesian colonists first landed some 1,500 years ago.

Some say that Ka Le is haunted -- and it is. But it's haunted not by Hawaii's legendary night marchers. The mysterious sounds are "Na leo o Kamaoa"-- the disembodied voices of 37 skeletal wind turbines abandoned to rust on the hundred-acre site of the former Kamaoa Wind Farm."

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

This is the only windfarm I've seen. I don't know how I'd feel about any other. These just seem to fit the landscape, like totem poles or something. I don't know how to explain something that obviously speaks to me, but has an opposite reaction to others. But then, I don't like modern art or home design, and now I own tons of it, because that is what spoke to my Mother. We started battling over art from the time I first understood what art is. She could never convince me that modern art is really art and she was eternally disappointed that her daughter preferred the traditional that to her was boring.

She dragged me around to art galleries all over the country to try to "educate my tastes" until the day at the Huntington, I saw my first Rembrandt and I couldn't pull myself away. She gave up on my art education at that point. I mean how could she argue with Rembrandt. I won!

[Elliott]

NYT:Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China.

You don't need the visitor logs to know which Pulitzer Prize winner dropped in for a chat.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

TK: Well I don't think those are beautiful.

[centralcal]

Obama is worthless. (Literally, "worthless" h/t J. Biden) He really isn't good at anything. He has a big toothy grin, the right color of skin, and a somewhat baritone voice and he wasn't a Clinton, so people all went gaga for him.

What in gawd's name do his supporters see in him now?

[Jim Ryan]

OBAMA: Wow, I always thought of them as, like, weird little samurai guys and geisha girls. But they have houses and they're people....Can you work something like that up for me, Steve?

SPEECHWRITER: [UNDER HIS BREATH] God help me, please God, help me.

[Rick Ballard]

Domestic oil production is up, while consumption is flat. The US is less reliant on the Persian Gulf supply today than it has been in 40 years, due solely to increases in purchases from Canada and Mexico coupled with flat demand.

BOzo and Salazar had and have nothing to do with the improvement but they willl be responsible for the change for the worse wrt GOM supply when (or if) demand picks back up.

ION - JPM makes a minor 33% downward revision of their Q1 GDP growth forecast. Those poor little green shoots just keep getting cropped to the ground.

[teleprompter]

You're on your own, man,