Military, Intel Sources: Obama's Lying About Risks of Afghanistan Stategery

As the Obama administration reconsiders its Afghanistan policy, White House officials are minimizing warnings from the intelligence community, the military and the State Department about the risks of adopting a limited strategy focused on al Qaida, U.S. intelligence, diplomatic and military officials told McClatchy.
Recent U.S. intelligence assessments have found that the Taliban and other Pakistan-based groups that are fighting U.S.-led forces have much closer ties to al Qaida now than they did before 9/11, would allow the terrorist network to re-establish bases in Afghanistan and would help Osama bin Laden export his radical brand of Islam to Afghanistan’s neighbors and beyond, the officials said.

McCain urges Obama to heed McChrystal's counsel, which is dog bites man. But so does Dianne Feinstein:

Also Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said U.S. troops would be put in "jeopardy" if Obama does not listen to McChrystal.
"I don't know how you put somebody in who's as crackerjack as Gen. McChrystal, who gives the president very solid recommendations, and not take those recommendations if you're not going to pull out," the California Democrat said on ABC's "This Week."
Feinstein was one of many members of Congress who discussed the situation in Afghanistan with Obama last week. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," she called on Obama to make a decision "sooner, rather than later." That's a turnaround from her position two weeks ago when she expressed support for Obama's wait-and-see approach on Afghanistan.

The double-negatives get thick there, but she's saying either pull out or follow McChrystal's recommendations.

For the contrary view, presented by someone with credibility on the right, see Ralph Peters.

Posted by: Ace at 01:08 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 well ..I'm just glad for our soldiers and Our sakes dems are saying it. maybe He will be forced to protect this country.

Posted by: willow at October 11, 2009 01:17 PM (GkYyh)

2 So Obama's being a lying, feckless crapweasel about this? You don't say.

Posted by: alexthechick at October 11, 2009 01:17 PM (3fFSg)

3 of course maybe the polling is high for us to win Afghanistan, thomas friedman also mentioned the military in a good light. I'm rather shocked twice this weekend, they must know losing is a losing stradegy.

Posted by: willow at October 11, 2009 01:19 PM (GkYyh)

4 There are an awful lot of red letters in this post.

Posted by: Chuck at October 11, 2009 01:20 PM (hNk8s)

5 Alex, well heck we should give him some slack, He's exhausted with war-ring on , America and Conservatives, He must be downright exhausted

Posted by: willow at October 11, 2009 01:20 PM (GkYyh)

6 But he wants to get rid of Don't Ask, Don't Tell! To send gay soldiers into harm's way would be homophobic!

Posted by: Liberal Logic Rules at October 11, 2009 01:22 PM (MMC8r)

7 Obama wanted to be president or his handlers wanted him to be president for one reason: redistributive change. If a foreign crisis occurs which does not further the agenda toward U.S. or global redistribution of wealth, he and his handlers are not only incapable of leadership, they are disinterested at best.

Posted by: Dagny at October 11, 2009 01:28 PM (S01tN)

8 Dianne Feinstein's a hawk now, huh?
She must know Tom Friedman's drug dealer.
That's the only explanation for this sudden burst of, uh, um, whatever this is from a couple of prominent leftists. Or do I seem to detect the faint odor of desperation? Are they starting to hear some real rumblings that America has had enough of their overreaching into Marxism and want to dial some of it back?
Something is foul afoot.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 11, 2009 01:29 PM (ZGhSv)

9 I fear that lots of these people did learn one lesson from Vietnam, and that is that you have to give yourself plausible deniability when your policies are implemented and it hits the fan (boat people, Cambodia, reeducation camps...). Wait for it.

"Sure, I undercut the war effort at every step when it really counted, but I made noises about victory every once in a while, so don't blame me."

What a pack of contemptible little weasels.

Posted by: pep at October 11, 2009 01:32 PM (DZyVK)

10 Mmm. Crackerjack.

Posted by: homer simpson at October 11, 2009 01:32 PM (2qU2d)

11 Maybe my memory is faulty, but are not the Taliban the ones who execute women for such sins as learning to read? I truly worry about the ethics of an administration that thinks this is not extreme.

Posted by: Johnathan E. at October 11, 2009 01:33 PM (dQdrY)

12 My lefty next door neighbor who works at the Feminist Majority with Eleanor Smeel went on a little trip to Afghanistan. Her take was that the people were wonderful but the U.S. is wasting money fighting wars when they really need economic help; blood for oil, yada yada. (Yeah, that's the ticket. Give the Taliban money. They are sure to use it on female education.)

Posted by: Dagny at October 11, 2009 01:37 PM (S01tN)

13

Wow. Feinstein is calling his ass out now. Ouch.

Posted by: Blazer at October 11, 2009 01:37 PM (+FzLa)

14
Something is foul afoot.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 11, 2009 01:29 PM (ZGhSv)

You can say that again.I wonder what's with the sudden positive upward tick in the Gallup and this was before he got the scandi peace prize.
Rasmussen he's back to negative territory.

Posted by: YIKES! at October 11, 2009 01:39 PM (tFrIQ)

15 Feminitsts seem to prefer hating white males to actually making the world a better place for women.

Posted by: Johnathan E. at October 11, 2009 01:44 PM (dQdrY)

16 OT, Hah, looks like sunspot maddog got a h/t on survivalblog (http://tinyurl.com/ytrq8t). Moronosphere = Kayser Souze.

Posted by: M.R.I. at October 11, 2009 01:45 PM (aVQo/)

17 Fact is that donations and support from the richest, most influential, lefty-est lefties have fallen and this embrace of defeat and Carter style Islamo-appeasement is bringing them back. Their death wish for the west sooner fulfilled. Scrubbing the planet of all those Jesus Freaks now closer to reality.

Posted by: Beto at October 11, 2009 02:04 PM (F1b/5)

18 Oh yeah? We're the ones with all the guns and ammo! Bring it!

Posted by: Jesus Freaks at October 11, 2009 02:17 PM (mosWQ)

19 But they're building day care centers for heaven's sake, Rethugs!

Posted by: Senator Patty Murray at October 11, 2009 02:18 PM (2qU2d)

20 Ha,
It will be interesting to see what the world says about Obama if he escalates the war in Afghanistan by 40,000 just before he accepts his Peace Prize.

Posted by: robtr at October 11, 2009 02:18 PM (/1QEK)

21 Can Congressional Dems be distancing themselves from Preznit Prissypants in view of 2010 elections? Time will tell.
Gotta get back to Giants, just intercepted Raiders at end of first half.

Posted by: the real joe at October 11, 2009 02:29 PM (l+x6R)

22 I don't see how you could think al-Qaeda and the Taliban are in cahoots with one another. That would be as crazy as Sunni and Shiite terroristsworking together against a common enemy. And who's ever heard of that?

Posted by: Cautiously Pessimistic at October 11, 2009 03:05 PM (pZEar)

23 Even DiFi can see that publicly debating strategy while the President sits around with his finger to his chin, going "Hmmmmm..." like Merkin Muffley is not a good plan. "The primary requirement of a commander is the ability make decisions quickly. If they happen to be right, so much the better."

Shit or get off the pot, junior.

Posted by: mojo at October 11, 2009 03:06 PM (5MA1v)

24 Haven't you people heard? Bambi just brought peace to the world. No need to worry about the Taleeeeeeebahhhhhhhn.

Posted by: rockhead at October 11, 2009 03:09 PM (RykTt)

25 Feinstein also recommended buying more C-17s. Did Rove find her hidden stash or did he manage to replace her with a fembot?

Posted by: K at October 11, 2009 04:19 PM (0byh7)

26 This is just CYA posturing on the part of the Dems. If Obama creates a disaster (very likely) they can say "hey, not our fault, we told him to listen to his military advisers." If by some miracle the US Army and Marines actually win, they can say "we told him to listen to his military advisers and see how well it all turned out." Expect to see a lot more of this between now and Nov. 2010.

Posted by: BattleofthePyramids at October 11, 2009 04:35 PM (DUno2)

27 while the President sits around with his finger to his chin, going "Hmmmmm..."
I take youre point but I think his fingers are somewhere else and he's going, "Mmmm. MMMMmmm."

Posted by: andycanuck at October 11, 2009 04:40 PM (2qU2d)

28 Obama lying?! No. Freaking. Way.

Posted by: katya at October 11, 2009 04:45 PM (ROme+)

29 Shit or get off the pot, junior.
He can't, he has constipation of the mind. It's a twofer.

Posted by: Alex's Cabin at October 11, 2009 05:35 PM (mosWQ)

30 Hysterical that suddenly you care about lies over military affairs. Perhaps if Obama claimed there were WMD in Kabul you'd show your former enthusiasm for the war.

Don't worry, he's still killing Muslims, you should be pleased about that at least.

Posted by: salvage at October 11, 2009 06:12 PM (DEOQe)

31 30
Hysterical that suddenly you care about lies over military affairs.
Perhaps if Obama claimed there were WMD in Kabul you'd show your former
enthusiasm for the war.

Don't worry, he's still killing Muslims, you should be pleased about that at least.

Posted by: salvage at October 11, 2009 06:12 PM (DEOQe)

Eat a bowl of poison, you feckless crapweasel.

Posted by: Unclefacts, Summoner of Bacons, and the Occasional Meteor at October 11, 2009 06:21 PM (erIg9)

32 Hysterical that suddenly you care about lies over
military affairs. Perhaps if Obama claimed there were WMD in Kabul
you'd show your former enthusiasm for the war.

Don't worry, he's still killing Muslims, you should be pleased about that at least.

Posted by: salvage at October 11, 2009 06:12 PM (DEOQe)
Have a big ol' glass of SHUT THE FUCK UP!Oh and then DIE motherfucker!

Posted by: Xploding Member at October 11, 2009 06:56 PM (QEJVN)

33 you can bet that c*nt Savage never supported the troops - just a bigmouth bitch

Posted by: Frank G at October 11, 2009 07:32 PM (I+To0)

34 We do care about lies -- like the Big Democrat Lie you repeated. The whole point of the Iraq war. The WHOLE POINT was to stop Saddam before he could develop nuclear weapons or rebuild his chemical arsenal. It succeeded. That meant he didn't have any because he was prevented.

And you know this. You're the liar, repeating a talking point you know is untrue and dishonest. You lie to yourself. Your very thoughts are lies. Like all Democrats, everywhere, you are incapable of understanding or stating the truth. You live in a world of lies, endlessly hearing and repeating whatever your masters tell you to believe.

At night, when you're alone, do you ever feel contempt for what a loathsome piece of filth you've made yourself into?

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 11, 2009 07:34 PM (6yEzu)

35 check the website - have a disinfectant handy. A balloon-juice linking bendover

Posted by: Frank G at October 11, 2009 07:35 PM (I+To0)

36 I love it! All Barry's campaign promises/lies are coming home to roost. And roosters do shit a lot; in their own coffe cup, no less. I'm hoping he does the right thing, for our troops on the ground, and approves the 40K additional troops. If NOT, he'll need a resounding victory in Afghan with FEWER troop losses, or his presidential credit will be next to nil. And realistically, very few Dims, of like stripe, will be able to distance themselves.
Yes, I realize the MSM will continue to fly coverfor him, but the American public, like the Russian public and Pravda, are getting very good at reading between the lines.

Posted by: MDr at October 11, 2009 07:38 PM (ucq49)

37 "not going to pull out?"
"turnaround from her position?"
Diane, stop it, he's mine I tell you!

Posted by: Chris Matthews at October 11, 2009 07:53 PM (wAQA5)

38 DiFi has gone off the Hope/Change reservation a couple of times now since the Obama ascention. Usually its something involving the military...

...of course that might have something to do with the huge amount of military votes that California wields.

My suspicion is she's probably trying to avoid going the way of Harry Reid when the Obama backlash starts hitting congress critters. An extra 10 or 20 thousand military votes swinging her way could make the difference in a tough race.

She's positioning herself so she can't be painted as an O-bot.

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Posted by: jason at October 11, 2009 09:32 PM (N6D5C)

40 Even the DNC doesn't believe that there are friendly Taliban.

What would make anyone believe that the President could negotiate with any of the Taliban in Afghanistan when he can't or won't sit down with those the DNC calls "Taliban" here in the US of A.

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Posted by: steve at October 12, 2009 08:11 AM (o9gRz)

42 >We do care about lies -- like the Big Democrat Lie you repeated.

I know, that is my point, Big Republican Lies don't bother you, thanks for confirming that.

>The whole point of the Iraq war. The WHOLE POINT
was to stop Saddam before he could develop nuclear weapons or rebuild
his chemical arsenal. It succeeded. That meant he didn't have any
because he was prevented.

No, the entire Bush administration said the whole point of the Iraq war. The WHOLE POINT was that Saddam HAD WMD, not was going to develop, HAD.

That of course was a lie, Saddam had no WMD, was not close to having WMD by any stretch of the imagination. See making real WMD? It's hard, it takes not only a very specialized and expensive infrastructure but a great deal of international cooperation. See Pakistan and Isreal's nuclear program for examples.There facts were known to the Bush administraion but they wanted their war so they lied.

That's obvious in hindsight as it was at the time.

See even the Bush administration understood that you can't launch a war based on what might happen, that's a war crime in fact.

But thank you for proving my point with such eloquence; you don't care about being lied to you only dislike being lied to by people you don't vote for.

Sad but true.

And hey! Look at what a great success Iraq has been, really well done, the Iraqis are free to be taken over by religious funadmentalists, blown up in the un-ending civil war and they get to live in a fully functioning terrorist factory where jihadists not only get practical training but motivation to attack America and American interests.

You all should be very proud of the small but vital role you played in making that happen.

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