The new Nixon
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The new Nixon
OK, they're not exactly the same -- President Obama can probably say "I am not a crook"and really mean it. But when it comes to important issues of war and national security, the new president is starting to pull a Nixon, taking office in a time of great national tumult and despair, promising changes...and then largely carrying on the discredited policies of his predecessor.
We definitely have seen that in Obama's inconsistent but increasingly dismaying approach to dealing with the torture practices and related war crimes of his predecessors, which is causing some people (on Washingtonpost.com, appropriately) to begin using that C-word from the Nixon era, which would be coverup.
And now there's growing alarm over the war that's been called Obama's Vietnam -- Afghanistan. I was stuck today by the insights of a rare member of Congress who served under both Nixon and Obama:
But American troop levels and war costs in Afghanistan will soar in the coming year, and party leaders, including Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, have warned that Democrats will most likely give the administration just one more year to get a handle on the military situation there before they start losing patience.
Mr. Obey said he would give the White House a year to demonstrate progress, just as he gave the Nixon administration a year to show progress in the Vietnam War inherited from the Johnson administration.
“With respect to Afghanistan and Pakistan, I am extremely dubious that the administration will be able to accomplish what it wants to accomplish,” Mr. Obey said last week. “The problem is not the administration’s policy or its goals. The problem is that I doubt that we have the tools there that we need to implement virtually any policy in that region.”
I think Obey is on the money here for the most part. Ever since 2002, I've thought that the U.S. should be heavily engaged in Afghanistan, including militarily with our allies, for several reasons but most fundamentally because Afghanistan had been the incubator for the 9/11 attacks. One of the selling points of Obama was that he promised a fresh approach here...but so where is it? While our policy there drifts, the flawed military strategy that needs to needless civilian deaths has actually accelerated during Obama's brief tenure. When will we see a new plan that's much more sophisticated than just sending a bunch of soldiers?
Time is running short. I actually want to see Obama emulate another Republican president's first term here -- but that would be Eisenhower in Korea, and not Nixon in Vietnam.
Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once.— bird11
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"LOL, you couldn't dispute my point, so you change the argument." It was neither taxmemore nor I who introduced Obama's campaign promises into the discussion. I forgot we're in a blue city within a blue state, and that means Democrats can alter arguments to introduce new points but Republicans can't. My bad.— Vandy- Comment removed.
"Biden, who recommended splitting Iraq into three separate countries -- an idea so silly" Really? Before British rule, Iraq was three vilayets (regions) of the Ottoman Empire. It was the British who made it into a single country, not the Iraqis.— Hamlet- bill a. - no resignation yet, but he didn't hold the elevator for Bykofsky this morning.— bird11
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- Sorry about that, MSL. Your question was something along the lines of what did Bush do in Afghanistan. From February 2007..."WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday announced a surge in U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan and asked Congress for an additional $11.8 billion to pump up the Afghan army and help rebuild the country. Currently, 27,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan — the highest number since the October 2001 invasion. The additional deployment follows a request made last month by Defense Secretary Robert Gates while he was visiting the top U.S. commander in that country. About 3,200 forces from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, located in Vicenza, Italy, will deploy to Afghanistan beginning in spring 2007, according to the Department of Defense. The brigade was previously scheduled to deploy to Iraq, but will be going to replace the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade from the 10th Mountain division, which was recently kept beyond its normal rotation to help beef up the number of forces on the ground. "We cannot allow terrorists to gain sanctuary anywhere," Bush said at the American Enterprise Institute. "Our goal in Afghanistan is to help the people of that country defeat the terrorists and establish a stable, moderate, democratic state that respects the rights of its citizens, governs its territory effectively and is a reliable ally in this war against extremists and terrorists. I know to some it seems like an impossible task."— Vandy
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- "There is one key difference between what Obama is doing and what Bush is doing" One? You mean except that thing about lying us into a war in Iraq - but that was so small as to not be worth mentioning as a *key* difference. Or is it that you guys think we will just forget that ever happened?— Hamlet
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- bryanc, as MSL might say, "LOL, you couldn't dispute my point, so you change the argument." to which TPS would ad an Ed McMahonish chortle.— bird11
- "You mean except that thing about lying us into a war in Iraq." So I guess a lot of people were lying about WMD, even before Bush took office in many instances. "Iraq made commitments after the Gulf War to completely dismantle all weapons of mass destruction, and unfortunately, Iraq has not lived up to its agreement." -- Barbara Boxer, November 8, 2002; "The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998; "Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people." -- Tom Daschle in 1998; "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -- Ted Kennedy, September 27, 2002; So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but it is not new. It has been with us since the end of the Persian Gulf War." -- John Kerry, Jan 23, 2003; Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998; "Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998; take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." -- letter from Joe Lieberman, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara A. Milulski, Tom Daschle, & John Kerry among others on October 9, 1998— Vandy
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