Obama’s speech last night marked a new low in his steady, downward march into political oblivion. Obama came across in equal measures as a fool and a charlatan. (Bad-taste photo, right, courtesy of Der Speigel.) It’s just the sort of foreign policy, national security performance that his critics predicted prior to his election. Gabor Steingart nails it at Der Speigel:
One didn’t have to be a cadet on Tuesday to feel a bit of nausea upon hearing Obama’s speech. It was the least truthful address that he has ever held. He spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics. He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly.
An additional 30,000 US soldiers are to march into Afghanistan — and then they will march right back out again. America is going to war — and from there it will continue ahead to peace. It was the speech of a Nobel War Prize laureate…
For each troop movement, Obama had a number to match. US strength in Afghanistan will be tripled relative to the Bush years, a fact that is sure to impress hawks in America. But just 18 months later, just in time for Obama’s re-election campaign, the horror of war is to end and the draw down will begin. The doves of peace will be let free…
It was a dizzying combination of surge and withdrawal, of marching to and fro. The fast pace was reminiscent of plays about the French revolution: Troops enter from the right to loud cannon fire and then they exit to the left. And at the end, the dead are left on stage.
No question about it, Barack Obama’s finest hour came and went in November 2008. Thirteen months in, America has already a failed presidency the consequences of which will reverberate for decades if not centuries. Read the rest of Steingart’s column at Der Speigel.
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Hate to burst your bubble but if Obama chooses to run again he will raise approximately a billion dollars for the campaign and will be re-elected. And if the economy is recovering no one is going to change horses, especially if the nominee is Palin.
His list of accomplishments and soon to be accomplishments in 10 months (not 13) is very impressive from increased veteran’s benefits to stem-cell research to derivative regulation to land preservation and on and on.
As far as Afghanistan the commander on the ground wanted 40,000 troops, Obama is giving him 30,000, I think a well thought out compromise to finish what Bush didn’t.
What accomplishments?