In 2008, Senator Obama told us that Afghanistan was the war we could not afford to lose. He told us that it would be his top priority. He told us he would provide Commanders with everything they needed to win.
In the spring of 2009, he told us he had implemented a new strategy, and then fired General McKiernan, who had defended the Troops and offered video evidence that they had been fighting the enemy. The Taliban had claimed their dead terrorists were just innocent civilians. The President had already apologized.
In the summer of 2009, the new General McChrystal had asked for enough Troops to win the war. After months of an hour a week of discussions with political advisors, in December of 2009, Obama finally decided to give the General half of what he said he needed, while announcing the Surge, and the retreat of the Surge to a class of unimpressed West Point cadets. He promised that the retreat would be based on conditions on the ground, and in consultation with Generals commanding the war.
Beginning in 2009, Obama beginning pushing for peace negotiations with the Taliban, pushing not only Karzai to give in to the Taliban, but also offering to release the top Taliban terrorists captured to date.
The chart above demonstrates the number of attacks by the enemy on a monthly basis. It was created by NATO, and the ISAF sub-command that runs the war in Afghanistan. The notes added are my own, to show key points in time. What it shows is an enemy emboldened by the words and actions of a President intent on "ending" rather than winning a war. It shows an enemy far more active than the last year prior to Obama and even more active than his first year.
What it doesn't show is that pulling Troops out of Afghanistan has anything to do with an improvement of conditions on the ground. If that were the case, there would be more Troops, not less, available to the General in charge.
The President has posited that National Security is his strong suit. If this is his strong suit, then he is admitting that he is an utter failure on the other issues.
Stumble It!
