546 days and counting
Written by Michael Vass
So after much thought I’ve come to conclude this about President Obama’s speech at West Point. In one of the shortest speeches ever uttered by President Obama (including during the 2007 - 2008 election cycle) the world was told
I realize that adding 30,000 troops is no minor action. But at no time was there any comment that rose to the level of ‘this is the war we need to fight’. A theme that was use constantly to berate President Bush’s stance on Iraq, and seperate then candidate Obama from the pack of Democrat hopefuls. Instead we have been given a well worded set of reasons why President Obama is taking the political middle ground (and preparing to lose).
This speech took less time than 1 minute for each day that president Obama delayed in giving it. Considering the impact of sending American troops into harm’s way I would have expected a speech that would have lasted at least as long as any of those given (repeatedly) to justify/support the Obama Stimulus, Health Care Reform, Cap & Trade, getting the Olympics to Chicago, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, taking over the auto industry, and explaining why police were wrong in arresting his collegiate colleague. But I suppose any more time would have required details, a subject that President Obama is remiss to give the public on any subject.
The emphasis of the speech was not on victory. it was on how America was wrong in Iraq and will leave Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as is politically possible. I cannot name a single conflict in the history of the world that was won where a definitive timelime to the cestation of aggression was first stated. Not one. And I cannot imagine victory if such a timeline had been attached to WWI, WWII, the Civil War, the Independance War and so on.
This speech was thus political - implying the decision on the troop levels and deployment was as well. It was an appeal to the far-left political base of President Obama. It seems to have been meant to console those that oppose any conflict with American troops (an isolationist viewpoint) while holding on to those that support our military and the reason behind this War through the 2010 mid-term elections.
President Obama filled the speech with distractions, and laid the seeds for a retreat from Afghanistan. President Obama blamed President Bush, the Afghan political structure, and the Afghan people for what will come in 546 days or so. He gave up on victory and used the political prop of the economy to justify his inaction.
And I want to review something here. President Obama stated that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost over $1 trillion in 8 years. He made it clear that such a cost was too high to continue. Yet since his inauguration President Obama has spent $787 billion on a flawed stimulus package that no one read and has since failed. He spent upwards of $60 billion dollars to buy the auto industry. He spent $3 billion on new car purchases. He created a budget that spends $3.5 trillion and is guaranteed to place the nation into $9 trillion in debt (by his own estimates). Which does not include the $1.2 trillion for a Health Care Reform that the public overwhelmingly does not want and no politician can explain (and cannot even live up to the purpose it was created for as stated by the CBO). It also does not include the costs associated with Cap & Trade, the greenhouse gas emmission reductions he wants to impose on the nation, and the long-rumored 2nd Obama Stimulus (which again I expect to fail).
Spending money that the Government does not have is NOT an issue for President Obama.
Overall the speech, made at West Point to score political points with military families, was well-worded. Yet it failed to inspire the public on a war that is in question but championed on the campaign trail. It showed a lack of confidence in our troops, something that allies and enemies alike will not fail to notice. It stomps on the campaign promises and high ideals promoted just a few months earlier this year. Worst of all it manipulates national security and the lives of our soldiers for political juggling games.
I cannot see how this response to a request for 40,000 (to 60,000 at the maximum) troops to be deployed in Afghanistan in 2009 required 4 months of delay that was classified as “deliberation”. Remember that this was a deliberation that took place as the President flew to Copenhagen to talk about the Olympics. It was a delay that sat while the President went golfing. It lay dormant as President Obama went on fundraising trips for Democrats and himself. There were of course other issues of the natio that did occur in the time that went past, but there is no denying that there were as many days with nothing being done and no reason for inaction either.
I recently stated that I felt the delay in giving a response to General McChrystal showed President Obama as mostly gutless. After listening to this speech 2x and long thought I believe I was right. This is not a speech that troops across the world would want to hear. This is not a rally call for support to our allies. This is not a statement of victotry that can drive fear into the hearts of our enemies. This can only be called a speech that makes President Carter look courageous by comparison (and if you weren’t alive to know, ask those that were).
America has 546 days left. In those days we can either prepare for a complete loss and the return of our soldiers in shame since they were not allowed to do their duty, or we can reshape the planned failure as outlined today at West Point. No matter which choice is finally made, there isn’t much time left.
