Patterico's Pontifications

10/10/2009

Bob Kerrey’s Afghanistan Op-Ed

Filed under: Obama,War — DRJ @ 9:31 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

On the Op-Ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, Bob Kerrey hopes President Obama does not waver on Afghanistan:

“There is surely a strong temptation to conform his better judgment to popular opinion. If he chooses this politically safe route and does not give his military commander on the ground the resources needed to win, history will judge him harshly. Great American leaders of our past have ignored popular sentiment and pressed on during the darkest hours, even when setbacks give rhetorical ammunition to the skeptics.”

Kerrey notes the Taliban is not popular in Afghanistan so this isn’t another Vietnam, nor are Afghan leaders asking America to leave as happened in some parts of Iraq. Instead:

“[W]e are being asked to withdraw by American leaders who begin their analysis with the presumption that victory is not possible. They seem to want to ensure defeat by leaving at the very moment when our military leader on the ground has laid out a coherent and compelling strategy for victory.”

Kerrey concludes this is a test of Obama’s moral leadership and whether he will keep his word and commitments. I hope he will.

H/T Instapundit and Ann Althouse.

— DRJ

39 Responses to “Bob Kerrey’s Afghanistan Op-Ed”

  1. Anything war can do, peace can do better and also there is no path to peace… peace is the path.

    All this unsolicited common sense advice like Mr. Kerrey’s… it’s peer pressure is what it is.

    But our little president man is strong. Him’s going to Norway. Jealous much, Bob?

    happyfeet (6b707a)

  2. ….this is a test of Obama’s moral leadership and whether he will keep his word and commitments.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…………

    oh.

    wait.

    were you and Bob serious, DRJ?

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  3. Hey, hey, those Afghan babes are pretty sweet. Anybody want to see my “peace prize.”

    OK, I’ll stop now.

    Really.

    Thorbjørn Jagland (d1363b)

  4. sorry happyfeet, but “peace” is what happens when the good guys win.

    and yes, despite all our flaws, *we* are the good guys in the ‘stan.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  5. red,

    I think happyfeet was being sarcastic but I wasn’t. I believe Afghanistan — and especially our troops already there — are important, so I’m holding out hope that Obama won’t give up on either of them.

    DRJ (7fbae6)

  6. Afghanistan and Pakistan with the Taliban is going to end up being to Obama what Iran and the Republican Guards were to Jimmy Carter, and both for the exact same reason — because they were so paralyzed with fear over getting into “another Vietnam” they did nothing until it was too late, and ended up with something worse.

    And unlike Iran in January 1979, if Obama lets Pakistan fall to the Taliban, they would be taking over a country that already has nuclear weapons. Nobel Peace Prize winner indeed.

    John (d4490d)

  7. Rarely have I known a politician who wouldn’t take the easy path instead of the one that needs to be taken, and our President is not one of those who demonstrates a great deal of inner strength of character.
    I will be pleasantly surprised if he takes the unexpected path.
    I will mourn the dead if he, as so many before him have, goes for the easy solution, which never is.

    AD - RtR/OS! (877de6)

  8. There’s no way Obama will send 40,000 more troops to Afgan. Remember, winning isn’t one of his objectives. He is working his hardest to ruin this great country.

    krusher (1c5999)

  9. If we allow the Taliban to regain control of Afghanistan, it will serve to inflame militant islam throughout the region and it will reestablish a base for al Qaeda operations worldwide. It would destabilize Pakistan, Iraq and threaten Israel. Obama must approve the troop request.

    Kerrey implies that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese were popular in South Vietnam. That is not correct.

    In 1968 when the VC launched the Tet Offensive, the idea was to encourage a popular uprising among the South Vietnamese. That strategy failed completely and of the 84,000 VC sleepers in the south, about 10,000 escaped death or imprisonment. After that defeat, the VC ceased to exist as a fighting force.

    The public response to Tet was an increase in volunteers joining by Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

    Arch (2ad073)

  10. I think there is too much presumption that Obama is on our side.
    It clouds thinking.

    Richard Aubrey (814f2c)

  11. I don’t believe Kerrey mentioned any Obama promises and “whether he will keep his word and commitments.” He wants no heed to be paid to downturning polls and political currents.

    Kerrey stated the case for continuing the Iraq war after four years was made obvious because “the demand for self-government was and remains strong.” Four years after toppling Saddam, that was the case.

    Can anyone make such an argument eight years into Afghanistan? We still don’t know how they voted in August. Not wanting the Taliban in their lives is not the same as having a “strong demand for self-government.” Any plan that relies on integrating tribal warlord enclaves into a federal system might take a decade. The one and only Vietnam analogy that applies is that it comes from within and not from overhwelming military occupation.

    Give McChrystal more troops. But what we honestly need is another Anbar rebellion, the crown jewel of U.S. achievements in Iraq.

    steve (dc4e1b)

  12. The problem was not losing in Viet Nam, the problem is that we are still losing in Viet Nam.

    Huey (b957d9)

  13. Huey:

    Please explain.

    Arch (2ad073)

  14. I wish the press would finally admit that their assinine assumptions about Tet were not only wrong, but injurious to our country’s morale in the long run. Kerrey is still operating under his delusions that he so aptly displayed during his Congressional testimony with his infamous “thousands of Mai Lai’s” being committed by our troops across SV. A better man would have apologized years ago for that outrageous slander.

    OTOH, at least he’s on the right side here, no matter his underlying reasons. Someone has to hold Obama and the other Dems accountable for their past screeching about Bush “taking his eye off the ball” regarding the Iraq War, and how they were always Gung – Ho for killing all the Taliban they could get their hands on in the Afghan theatre.

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  15. Dmac,

    Are you confusing John Kerry with Bob Kerrey?

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  16. Yes, that’s the wrong Kerry, this one is pretty solid, how he manages to keep his job as Pres of
    the New School is rather mystifying, but that’s just me. Yes he made a mistake about 40 years ago
    this month and it procluded him pursuing further
    office

    bishop (4e0dda)

  17. Stashiu3,

    I made the same mistake. I was puzzling about how John Kerry suddenly acquired a backbone.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  18. We (to put words in Huey’s mouth) are still losing in VietNam due to the Liberal mindset fostered there.
    Until they recognize the dishonesty of what they did re VietNam, we will have this argument over “nation building” everywhere we try to affect history by the betterment of man-kind through self-rule.

    And,steve…the Afghans went to the polls and voted. That alone should describe their committmant to self-government.
    Is it our fault that their pols are as corrupt as some of ours,
    and have their own ACORN-like organizations to manipulate the polling results?

    AD - RtR/OS! (6e8409)

  19. AD. The liberals do understand and recognize the dishonesty of that mindset [ref VN]. It’s one of their most useful tools.

    Richard Aubrey (814f2c)

  20. My apologies for the length of this comment, but I’m really disappointed in our government right now. They badly need a history lesson.

    Obama wants a defeat in Afghanistan, achieved the way the democrats did in Vietnam in 1973 – the Case/Church amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill. That perfidious act prohibited US forces from operating on over or in the waters of North and South Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia. Congress also reduced the RVN aid package from $1.4B to $700M.

    The US military won every battle they fought in Vietnam. No base was overrun; no unit ever surrendered. When the North Vietnamese walked out of the Paris Peace negotiations on December 18th, 1972, President Nixon told the DoD to “end this.” USAF began raids on Hanoi and Haiphong at 100 to 150 B52s sorties per night. Each bomber carried 108 Mk82 500 pound bombs per aircraft. Soon the NVA had depleted their SAMs and AAA without hope of resupply. On the 29th, the North returned to the talks and agreed to all our conditions in return for a halt in the bombing.

    I hate sports analogies, but imagine that your team scored every time it had the ball. Your opponent never made a first down. As the clock is winding down, your coach calls a time out and forfeits the game. Unfortunately, war in the Middle East is no game. Wins and losses are measured in lives and honor. In Vietnam War, we lost 58,249 American soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. The South Vietnamese lost about 500,000 and the North, 600,000. Total war dead 1.15 million.

    The “peace” cost over 3 million lives. The North reeducated to death 850,000 Southerners. Another 150,000 died in boats fleeing communist repression. In Laos, the hill tribes are still feeling the genocidal wrath of the Pathet Lao. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge seized power and killed an estimated 2,000,000 of its 6,000,000 citizens.

    One bright side to this tragic situation is that beginning in November 2010, it will be decades before the American people entrust the democrat party with our national security. It’s easy to sit back and take shots at Bush and Cheney, undermine our efforts while we have troops in a war. Actually governing this nation is far beyond the abilities of Obama, Pelosi and Reid.

    Arch (2ad073)

  21. The only way out is through.

    The Sanity Inspector (6544e5)

  22. Arch:

    You’ve gotta remember: to leftists, and those who came up through leftist-controlled educational institutions, the right side won the Vietnam War, the wrong side won the Cold War, and the Obama administration is their chance to set their universe rightside up.

    The Sanity Inspector (6544e5)

  23. I think the little president man genuinely wanted a defeat in Iraq but it slipped out of his grasp… Afghanistan is second-best. All of his talk about Afghanistan was geared towards diverting resources from Iraq but that’s moot now with the agreement thingy they signed. So now he wants our soldiers made vanquished in Afghanistan.

    He really is an exceptional asswipe, this one. Chicago street trash in our White House. Bad call, Ripley.

    happyfeet (6b707a)

  24. Exactly.

    Huey (b957d9)

  25. Are you confusing John Kerry with Bob Kerrey?

    My apologies – now I know why I was suddenly astonished that the Senior Senator finally showed a backbone. And my admiration for the former Senator from Nebraska will always endure – he was one of the few senior Dems who really did think of his country first before his party.

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  26. ..and my disgust for Mr. Theresa Heinz – Kerry knows no bounds. That disgust is seared, seared into my memory…

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  27. If we allow the Taliban to regain control of Afghanistan, it will serve to inflame militant islam throughout the region and it will reestablish a base for al Qaeda operations worldwide. It would destabilize Pakistan, Iraq and threaten Israel. Obama must approve the troop request.

    Oh please, this isn’t October 2001. Fact is that Afghanistan is just about as far away from anywhere you want to go as is possible. Fact is that terrorist plots are planned in Hamburg, Madrid, London, South Florida, Minnesota, even San Diego to a greater extent than anything that has ever happened in Afghanistan.

    Let the place stew, its not worth the blood of one more Americans.

    Oh, and this ‘victory’ — like in Iraq, where we are still losing about 10 guys a month? Some victory

    a concerned conservative (4e4c61)

  28. Concerned conservative is neither concerned nor conservative. Nor is it ready to admit the Iraqi citizens want us there and are thankful we are there. My own daughter blows this false conservative and false concerned person out of the water.

    John Hitchcock (3fd153)

  29. Liar

    JD (50d704)

  30. You forgot to add “Christian” in your name. And “uninformed” since the 9/11 attacks were planned in Afghanistan and that makes your “to a greater extent than anything that has ever happened in Afghanistan” completely wrong. Now, tell us you voted for McCain while holding your nose. That will build some cred. Wait, no it won’t. We’ve seen it too often.

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  31. Heh, 29 and 30 point to 27 and not 28. I know that much. 😉

    John Hitchcock (3fd153)

  32. I type slower when I don’t feel well. Sue me. 😉

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  33. That is a textbook Moby comment, but is missing the usually added elements where they are like an over-the-top caricature of a racist/homophobe/warmonger/jingoistic imperialist/etc

    JD (50d704)

  34. Oh, and this ‘victory’ — like in Iraq, where we are still losing about 10 guys a month?
    Comment by a concerned conservative — 10/11/2009 @ 12:28 pm

    Also, define “we” please.

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  35. CC has been here before, with the same tiresome routines and false identities. Need some new material, brah.

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  36. I think there is too much presumption that Obama is on our side.
    It clouds thinking.

    Comment by Richard Aubrey — 10/11/2009 @ 6:46 am

    You nailed it on the head, sir. Our Republican leaders exemplify that clouded thinking. They’re too busy demanding civility from the right, not questioning their opponents patriotism, and (for those in Congress who take an oath to defend the Constitution) never daring to think there could be domestic enemy.

    They’ve been cowed into thinking exactly the way their opponents on the left want them to think. Who, by the way, see only domestic enemies.

    These guys better wake up. I don’t know what exactly Obama will do in Afghanistan, other than ignore McChrystal and make things worse. But they better stop kidding themselves that he just doesn’t understand the danger. Just like they better stop kidding themselves that the left wants to expand the CRA because the just haven’t learned from the mortgage crisis, or that the Democrats simply don’t understand how crippling cap & trade will be.

    They understand perfectly. It won’t help if you explain things to them one more time, like Bob Kerrey is trying to do. They’ve got a different plan entirely. Which involves destroying the country while insisting everyone pays tribute to their hearts being in the right place.

    Really, when you think about it, bamboozling the electorate while sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that he was only running for president to rein in their common enemy and take them down a few notches is what earned Obama the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Steve (cf69c0)

  37. Just to clarify, by “rest of the world” I meant the self-anointed elites of the rest of the world.

    The ones who think the common good involves them being in charge and putting those under them in chains.

    Iranian and Chinese dissidents, among others around the world, don’t see a powerful US as their enemy. But the Ahmadinejads and Castros and Zelayas do. And the Norwegian prize committee sides with the latter. Their award welcoming Obama into the fold makes sense in that light. Because he really has given them good, solid reason to lift their moods, hasn’t he?

    Steve (cf69c0)

  38. #28 John Hitchcock. Newbie here, OT. Just read through that battle you and your daughter took on. IMHO she would stand a better chance of bringing Iraq and Afghanistan to Utopia all by her precious self than you have of breaking through the cemented in craniums of the misfits that inhabit that site. Whew! Applaud your effort!

    Yoshi (ad146b)

  39. Bob Kerry – US Navy SEAL, awarded Medal of Honor for heroism during Vietnam, which cost him a leg.

    John Kerry – Put himself in for medals he wasn’t eligible for, so he could leave Vietnam.

    Big diff.

    thebronze (7f139c)


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