"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."


Thursday, December 17, 2009

A Failed Speech, Support Him Nonetheless

As a wartime speech from a commander-in-chief, President Obama's iteration last week left much to be desired. Devoid of any bold assertion of national purpose or emphasized resolve to achieve victory (what one would tend to expect from an address in that genre), President Obama's remarks were instead a contradicting blend of added commitment to our mission in Afghanistan mixed with a determination to get out of the country sooner rather than later.

Because of this confusion the president's speech likely did very little good for the Afghani government, the Afghani people and the members of our coalition whose support we need for success in Afghanistan. It quite possibly did a great deal of bad.

Concerned that President Obama's failure to make a timely decision reflected a wavering American, the fears of these entities were most likely un-assuaged by the President's discussion and reiteration of exit ramps and timetables. Agonizingly excessive specificity about how and when you plan to leave is a poor way to convince someone you are there to stay.

It is upon this basis that President Obama's speech must be considered a failure. As important to the mission's success as 30,000 more troops is, of almost equal value is convincing friend and foe alike that we are there until the job is done. If the Afghani national and regional governments are not convinced we are there to stay they will look in other directions for their political security, possibly getting into bed with entities unfriendly to us. If the Afghani populace is not convinced we are there to stay they are extremely unlikely to provide us with the personal intelligence that is vital to rooting out and destroying al-Qaeda and Taliban elements, justifiably fearing that if they help us and we leave they and their families will suffer retribution at the hands of the people they squealed on.

Neither can we expect any kind of real commitment from our NATO allies when we fail to categorically make one ourselves.

What's more, if al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are left to make no other conclusion than American resolve is strong and we will fight until the mission is accomplished they will be deprived of all hope, their only avenue towards victory cut off. If convinced of the opposite though they will be ever more emboldened to redouble their efforts and make as much hell for us as they possibly can, knowing that each blow might be the one that convinces America to go home. In the process they will be able to capitalize on the fears and uncertainties outlined above, which will make America's predicament all but impossible.

This straightforward reality is something that the president is either unable to understand or unwilling to acknowledge. Instead of dwelling on the time and manner of our leaving he would have done much better to have granted General McChrystal's request and simply declared that he was doing so to insure that the mission he, President Obama, laid out not so long ago had the resources necessary to succeed. He should have left it at that.

Even if firmly committed to the planned exit ramps and timetables, no discernible purpose is achieved by advertising and emphasizing them. Quite the opposite, for in all truth there is a much greater likelihood that we will be able to meet the president's ramps and timetables if our enemies don't know that all they have to do is wait us out until then.

President Obama's speech before the cadets of West Point failed by the simple fact that it made the goal it announced harder to achieve. On that front the damage has been done. All that those who are dedicated to American victory in Afghanistan can do going forward is to support the decision itself, support the president and our commanders as they execute their mission, and then hold the president to account if and when he wavers before success has been achieved. Above all, a wavering commander-in-chief must be continually made aware that in steadfastness he has unflinching support.