December 01, 2009
Obama's Speech: Let's Win this thing, But Only if It Doesn't Cost Too Much
My emotions are pretty high after the speech. I'm not sure how logical I can be at this moment.
On a visceral level I'm pissed and I don't know why.
I support the surge strategy so why would I be pissed?
Maybe it's because it was so full of contradictions? That is, he says we must win, but then gives a timeline for withdrawal.
So, must we win or must we get out?
Maybe it's because he says it's a war of necessity, but then goes on and says that we must do a cost - benefit analysis when reviewing our military commitment in Afghanistan.
It's necessary, but only if it doesn't cost too much?
Remember that time when Churchill made that speech about fighting on the beaches and stuff, but only if it cost less than two-pence per capita? Classic.
I'm just not convinced that Obama gets this war or any war. In fact, it sounds to me like he thinks of this war as a distraction from his real priority which is the economy.
We're supposed to all sacrifice for victory, but not too much ya know. Not if that means some unknown number of jobs lost or some unspecified level of deficit.
Then all this stuff about diplomacy. Um, so reaching out to Pakistan is going to make Islamic fundamentalists like us more how?
So, even though I agree with the overall sentiment of the surge I guess I'm just not confident yet that Obama is willing to see this thing through.
Maybe I'll update this later. What do you guys think?
In the meantime I'll direct you to the usual places: AllahP here and Ace here.
UPDATE: On cue, I wasn't the only one who saw the contradiction here.
Pay special attention to how much the surge costs each year compared to say the deficit for this month alone.
By Rusty at December 1, 2009 07:53 PM | | l digg this
