| Obama Hopes to Reconcile with Taliban |
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| by Tom McGregor | Sun, Mar 8, 2009, 12:51 PM |
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According to the Houston Chronicle, “Obama pointed to the success in peeling Iraqi insurgents away from more hard-core elements of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a strategy that many credit as much as the increase of American forces with turning the war around in the last two years.” On Friday in a conversation with the New York Times aboard Air Force One, Obama admitted he could not guarantee Americans would start growing this year. Yet he pledged that he would “get all the pillars in place for recovery this year” and suggested to Americans not to “stuff money in their mattresses.” Obama is pressing forward with plans to rewrite the tax code, enlarge health care coverage and reduce climate change. He dismissed criticism from conservatives that he was driving the nation towards socialism He called reporters after the interview to assert that his actions have been “entirely consistent with free market principles” and to reiterate that large-scale intervention in the markets and expansion of welfare programs started under former President George W. Bush. Despite the economic turmoil, Obama exuded confidence, even though the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated. As reported by the Chronicle, “the president spoke at length about the struggle with terrorism, staking out positions that at times seemed more comparable to those of his predecessor than many of Obama’s liberal supporters would like. He did not rule out the option of snatching terrorism suspects out of hostile countries.” Obama replied “no,” when he was asked if the United States was winning in Afghanistan, a war he effectively adopted as his own last month as he ordered the deployment of 17,000 troops to be sent there. Last year, Obama said on the campaign trail that there was the potential to break away some elements of the Taliban, which was an idea also pondered by some military leaders. To read the entire article from the Houston Chronicle, link here: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Comments (6)
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written by Dallasite1 , March 09, 2009 Isn't this the same man that declared that we had lost the war in Iraq? I would take his military declarations with the very light grain of salt they deserve.
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written by Austin , March 09, 2009 The British could not hold Afghanistan, the Russians could not hold Afghanistan, but conservatives think America can hold Afghanistan? At what cost, and for how long?
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written by Amy in Austin , March 09, 2009 I think he said that after the guy before him said we had accomplished our mission in Iraq. It's all very confusing.
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written by Old Red , March 09, 2009 The effort in Afghanistan is a NATO operation, as Bush ceded sole control of the war there in 2005. That said, the US cannot keep pouring money into foriegn wars when the economic picture at home is so desperate. Nixon was right to pull out of Vietnam, Reagan was right to pull out of Beirut, Obama will be right in pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan. We can no longer afford them.
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written by Shadrach , March 09, 2009 No, the person who declared we had lost in Iraq was Harry Reid. President Obama did not say we were losing in Afghanistan, he said we were not currently winning. A big difference, especially since this is exactly why Obama is asking for more troops and why 17,000 more are on the way. Given that we are showing the Taliban we are committed to bringing tens of thousands of more troops, what is Obama is trying to do is use the successful strategy that helped us win Al Anbar province from Al Quaida. For those who only see black and white, this is dealing with the enemy. For those who see the realities of the situation, the fact is that the Taliban, like Al Quaida in Iraq, is not liked by locals. However, the locals choose sides with the Taliban because of a variety of local factors. If however, we can get a clear handle on local power structures, we can get the locals who are now aligned with the Taliban to align against them. This attempt was not started in the White House, it was started at the local military level. I think it is interesting that Mr. McGregor decided to not report the portion of the Houston Chronicle article where President Obama expressly says he is willing to see if General Petreaus' divide and conquer strategy might work in Afghanistan. As a former military officer, I say let’s see if we can implement an “Afghanistan Awakening” against the Taliban in the same way we successfully implemented an “Anbar Awakening” against Al Quaida in Iraq. Seems to me this is diplomacy through strength in the lines TR's famous quote: "speak softly and carry a big stick." Write comment
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In an interview, President Barack Obama declared that the United States was losing the war in Afghanistan and wants to open to door to a reconciliation process in which the U.S. military would seek out moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with militant Sunnis in Iraq.
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