Obama's 6 month Afghan strategy review

Washington Times Editorial:

It astonishes us how quickly Afghanistan is moving from being a "war of necessity" to "too tough to do." President Obama's comments over the weekend gave the clearest signal yet that his administration is seeking an exit strategy from a conflict he described in August as "not only a war worth fighting" but "fundamental to the defense of our people." Commitment to that fundamental defense is eroding.

The president is being foiled by complex terrain, by which we mean the Congress. The Democratic leadership has indicated it would not look favorably on requests for more troops, which most analysts believe are necessary to stabilize the situation.

An Aug. 30 initial review by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, concluded that more troops are necessary to provide a "bridge capability" until Afghan forces have been adequately trained to take on the task. This increase of force is vital. "Resources will not win this war," the report states, "but under-resourcing could lose it."

Rather than follow the conclusions of the most comprehensive review of the Afghan situation to date, the White House is trying to redefine the mission. "You don't make decisions about resources," Mr. Obama warned, "before you have the strategy right."

Yet his strategy is already being implemented. Bob Schieffer of CBS News reminded the president that he rolled out a new plan on March 27. At the time, Mr. Obama called it a "comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan [and] Pakistan" that was "the conclusion of careful policy review" that the president said he ordered "as soon as [he] took office." Mr. Obama conceded to Mr. Schieffer that he had implemented his own strategy, but that "we were gonna review that every six months."

Theater-level counterinsurgency strategies cannot be fully implemented within six months. The president himself said the new troops he ordered sent in the spring "are just now getting into place." It is unreasonable to suggest a strategy can be reviewed before it has been executed. It also frustrates those tasked with implementing the strategy when long-term objectives are at the mercy of political winds.

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This sounds like a replay of Democrat attitudes toward the surge in Iraq where they were declaring it a failure before all the troops were on the ground. It also demonstrates Obama's profound ignorance of warfare and strategy. We say a preview of that with his opposition to the surge in Iraq and now he is coming out against his own Afghan policy without giving it a chance. It is another reason why Democrats should never be trusted with national security.