The goals were narrow, and delivered without regard to America’s moral obligation to Afghanistan. Peter Beinart on Obama’s missed opportunity.The best that can be said about President Obama’s West Point speech is that it was civil. Obama did not accuse opponents of the Afghan surge of appeasement; he did not imply that he has a [...]
Obama’s Afghanization Speech
December 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment
It took less time to oust the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and destroy al Qaeda’s infrastructure in that country than it took for President Obama to decide what to do now in Afghanistan. After ninety days of back and forth deliberations, his Afghanistan speech last night was anti-climactic.
The Commander-in-Chief spoke against the backdrop of [...]
Obama’s Hedged Bet on Afghanistan – by Jacob Laksin
December 2, 2009 By 19 Comments
The president backs a strategy for success – but with a political timeline attached.
Transcript of Obama speech on Afghanistan – CNN.com
December 1, 2009 By 2 Comments
West Point, New York CNN — President Obama spoke Tuesday night at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, about the future of the U.S. military engagement in Afghanistan. The following is a transcript of his remarks:Good evening. To the United States Corps of Cadets, to the men and women of our [...]
And We Won’t Be Back ‘Till It’s Over, Over There! (Which Will Be In 2012)
December 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Run Away! Run Away!
The first twenty minutes of President Obama’s speech at West Point found me in a state of shock. His clear and forceful justification for our presence in Afghanistan, sound identification of the enemy, the Taliban and not just Al Qaida, and the declaration of his intention to commit the necessary troops to
“disrupt, [...]
Even Media Matters speechless over Matthew’s ‘enemy camp’ line
MSNBC’s Oddball Hardball host Chris Matthews endures plenty of criticism here at NewsReal — and why not?
When he’s not trading on his flimsy cradle Catholicism to pontificate (inaccurately) on matters religious, Matthews veers between making flimsy accusations of “racism” and spouting historical inaccuracies.
But you know it’s bad when even the George Soros Steno Pool, otherwise [...]