Pretty funny stuff when Obama just added 2 to the list. On Jun 25, 12:03 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > What Neocons Don't Understand About WarBy Conor Friedersdorf > Jun 24 2011Politics shapes strategy in conflicts of choice -- which is > another reason to avoid themInNational Review,The Weekly Standard, and > theWashington Post, leading War on Terror hawks are expressing outrage at the > timeline President Obama set for troop reductions in Afghanistan. Their > complaint: politics is driving American policy. "So why September 2012?" Bill > Kristol writes. "Because, one has to conclude, Election Day is November 6, > 2012. The deadline will allow candidate Obama to say that he has completely > withdrawn the surge forces, and that we're on our way out of Afghanistan and > coming home. The timetable President Obama has set isn't based on military > considerations, diplomatic strategies, or financial calculations." > Perhaps it's time to let these guys in on a secret: elected officials are > constantly playing politics. Even on matters of national security. As they > wage foreign wars, they concern themselves with the mood of the American > people, support for hostilities in Congress, and how troop levels might > affect their prospects for being re-elected. Almost inevitably, the strategy > and tactics they employ depend at least partly on all those factors, and > other political considerations besides. > Most adults know this. > For that reason, it's wise to refrain from waging wars of choice, a label > that arguably didn't apply to Afghanistan circa 2001, but certainly started > applying at some point over the last decade. When our safety isn't imminently > threatened, it is tempting to avoid the slaughter of our sons and daughters, > especially if it saves billions of dollars. It's tempting even when it isn't > militarily optimal. > Guys like Kristol constantly urge us to undertake ever more wars of choice > anyway. It's as if they're blind to the fact that the American people tire of > adventures abroad on a timetable that doesn't correspond to however many > decades are required to prevail in them (if in fact winning is even > possible). A prudent decision-maker, weighing whether to launch or extend a > foreign war, would presume the eventual war weariness of the populace, and > the political nature of presidents. > Kristol and those who trust his foreign policy judgment aren't prudent > decision-makers. In their telling, the US would've prevailed if only we stuck > it out longer in Vietnam. Islamist extremists wouldn't have been emboldened > if only we'd stuck it out in Beirut. Iraq would've gone better if only we'd > invested in a bigger military during the 1990s and sent more troops in > earlier. We'd win all our wars of choice if only Americans would give > neo-cons a blank check, unlimited troops, and no deadline! That the > conditions they deem necessary for victory are fantastical doesn't bother > them. > It doesn't help that their desire to wage new wars causes them to mislead the > American people about how long victory might take. Here's Bill Kristol on > October 1, 2001: "Saddam Hussein, because of his strategic position in the > Persian Gulf and the Middle East, surely represents a more potent challenge > to the United States and its interests and principles than the weak, > isolated, and we trust, soon-to-be crushed Taliban. And unlike the Taliban, > Saddam Hussein may soon have at his disposal not only terrorist networks, but > biological, chemical, and even nuclear weapons." > Here he is on November 26, 2001: "WITH THE TALIBAN DISLODGED and Osama bin > Laden increasingly shorn of allies, the endgame seems to be in sight in > Afghanistan." It's no wonder the American people are war weary and uninclined > to trust the assurances of hawks that we just need to stay a little bit > longer - but without any timetable for withdrawal - to assure American > victory. They've been telling us for a decade that victory is just over the > next hill. Why trust them > now?http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/06/what-neocons-dont-know-about-war/240956/
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