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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Obama's speech: A missed opportunity
President Barack Obama delivers a televised address from the East Room of the White House in Washington on Wednesday on his plan to bring home U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

I am at a loss to understand what President Obama was trying to do with his speech tonight.

The speech appeared aimed at reassuring the public that things were going just dandy in Afghanistan and that we would end that war within three years, just as we’re pulling out of Iraq this year. And Obama promised a transition to Afghan security control by the end of 2014.

Yet that war is seriously troubled – in a way the president finessed. It’s not clear that this transition will work, especially if public pressure rises for an even swifter withdrawal.

By overemphasizing the positive, and bypassing the continuing threats, the president missed an opportunity to explain to Americans why the withdrawal should proceed at a moderate pace. He failed to explain why it’s vital to  keep the bulk of 33,000 “surge” troops in Afghanistan until next summer, and to draw down the remaining 68,000 troops gradually.

I write more about these issues in my Thursday column and will talk about them in a video linked to my blog tomorrow morning.  Let me know what you think.

And click here to listen to my commentary yesterday on WHYY on President Obama's speech.
Posted by Trudy Rubin @ 8:35 PM  Permalink | 39 comments
Comments   
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:48 PM, 06/22/2011
    The biggest irony is that Obama differentiated himself versus Hillary Clinton by being the 'peace' candidate. Every action since the election he's fully supported George W. Bush's foreign policy... wars, Gitmo, Homeland Security initiatives. Sadly, Obama has followed his 'tax and spend' policies at home... where he was supposed to have all the answers... and instead Obama's policies have been a diasaster. Good riddence in 2012!
    — JGD84
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:52 PM, 06/22/2011
    So we're drawing down not because of increasing security or an improved outlook in Afghanistan or because the Pentagon has indicated things are going swimmingly, but because of polls. Great job President Lead from Behind.
    — theodotius
  • 1 like this / 1 don't   •   Posted 8:54 PM, 06/22/2011
    They said the same thing about Iraq. Our troops did a stellar job there too!!!And we didn't lose!!!
    — sarah89
  • 0 like this / 1 don't   •   Posted 11:00 PM, 06/22/2011
    I was opposed to the Iraq war from the start. When Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, he didn't even know about the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims. So much of Iraq's history and current internal conflicts are related to Sunni-Shia divisions. Saddam Hussein was a Sunni Muslim and his regime persecuted Shia Muslims, exacerbating pre-existing tensions. When invading a nation, the invader should have a thorough knowledge of the invaded nation's culture. Bush and his administration didn't have that.

    When your troops surround the oil ministry building, but fail to surround a museum with priceless ancient artifacts, it looks like the U.S. is going after the oil. The U.S. is building a HUGE embassy in Baghdad! We want a presence there. There's no Cold War, no World War II. The military-industrial complex needs to have some war to fight!
    — SeaMichelle
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  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:13 PM, 06/22/2011
    Do you mean that there's a difference between being a candidate with no previous responsibility and being the person actually responsible for making serious decisions? It's a whole lot easier to say you wouldn't have voted for the war in Iraq (when you didn't have a vote) like every other person with a vote did than it is to be actually be in charge. For god's sake America, don't expect pipe dreamers to follow through on their ridiculous campaign promises when they have no basis in reality for their claims.
    — HorshamGuy
  • 1 like this / 1 don't   •   Posted 9:18 PM, 06/22/2011
    Stop this nonsense and get out of these three wars! Enough already, wasting lives and money in these worthless parts of the world is Pure Madness. Why wait any longer, if we pull out tomorrow or hundred years from now, the results will be the same. These animals will go back to doing what they do best and that is devouring each other. Bush is to blame for putting us down this Rabbit Hole, and now it is time to get out. This is a Bad Deal, one where we get zero return on the lives lost and the money spent. As our Economy plummets into despair, our President clings to a Failed Policy, he needs to get us out NOW!
    — CrashTestCorzine
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:23 PM, 06/22/2011
    This warmonger just needs the resources to go monger somewhere else, like libya. Talk about war for oil!
    — molonlabe
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:24 PM, 06/22/2011
    Well, Ms. Rubin, as a very left-leaning liberal yourself (and let's not play coy and deny that; your columns are self-evident), Obama was not lefty enough here. You're incorrect in your implying that the public will demand faster withdrawal, in fact, many believe that a novel approach would be fight for victory. Obama is in a tough place. He has to satisfy the fringe left-wing kook base that elected him while trying to appeal to moderates who are abandoning him. In short, this speech is part of his reelection campaign, so don't look for coherent leadership. In fact, since it's Obama we're talking about, don't look for leadership period. Ms. Rubin, you helped elect a man-child clearly in over his head, a do-nothing Senator with as empty a resume as one could imagine. So you tell us what happened to your empty suit in the White House. He's one of you.
    — slcbob
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:32 PM, 06/22/2011
    Simply amazing how many people were fooled by this community organizer.
    — Trashcan_Man
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:33 PM, 06/22/2011
    The man is a total fraud and a total failure. His ability to dish completely self serving BS ranks right up there with Donald Trump. I have heard & seen enough of this guy. He needs to go....
    — kelprod2
  • 1 like this / 1 don't   •   Posted 9:35 PM, 06/22/2011
    Afghanistan IS RUN BY MANY WAR LORDS--WE ARE AGAIN PROPPING UP A CENTRAL GOV--IT AINT GONNA WORK ---by 2014 all our troops should be home ... enough is enough---who is kidding who---
    — carmen2
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About Trudy Rubin
Trudy Rubin’s Worldview column runs on Thursdays and Sundays. In 2009-2011 she has made four lengthy trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Over the past seven years, she visited Iraq eleven times, and also wrote from Iran, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, China, and South Korea. She is the author of Willful Blindness: the Bush Administration and Iraq, a book of her columns from 2002-2004. In 2001 she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary and in 2008 she was awarded the Edward Weintal prize for international reporting. In 2010 she won the Arthur Ross award for international commentary from the Academy of American Diplomacy.
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