Palin Lauds Obama's Afghanistan Decision

[sabra]

Source: CBS News

Sarah Palin is offering rare praise for President Obama following his speech last night in which he vowed to deploy 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

"At long last, President Obama decided to give his military commanders much of what they need to accomplish their mission in Afghanistan," Palin wrote on her Facebook page last night.

...

"We now have an opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus in support of a vital national security priority: defeating Al-Qaeda and its violent extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and ensuring that these countries never again serve as bases for terrorist attacks against America and our allies," she wrote.

The former Alaska governor was not entirely on board with Obama's speech last night, however. She took issue with the president setting July 2011 as a date to begin pulling troops out of Afghanistan, arguing the move amounts to "sending the wrong message" to our allies and enemies.

"We should be in Afghanistan to win," Palin wrote. She said a timetable signaled "a lack of resolve to our friends" and gave inspiration to American enemies to simply "wait us out."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/12/02/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5863327.shtml

[tabatha]

1. Parrot McCain much?

[Kingofalldems]

2. That will make his day

[earthside]

3. Bipartisanship, Finally!

President Obama has succeeded in getting the bipartisanship he has so desperately wanted ... it is for more militarism and killing, but, hey ...

[cowcommander]

25. War is one of the few things both parties seem to agree to these days

[cstanleytech]

40. I wouldnt say that, its more like Obama has to clean up the mess Bush left behind.

That means securing the country as fast as possible and lets face it the taliban have shown themselves as a real threat (unlike Iraq and Saddam) because they did provide support and a home to Bin Laden and his people.
Does it suck to be sending in more troops? Yup, it does but thats because the Bush administration dropped the ball and fubared us by not finishing the job in Afghanistan and its now left up to Obama to do the best he can.

[No Elephants]

47. You mean the mess Bush left behind by invading and occupying Afghanistan and Iraq

instead of simply pursuing the terrorists wherever they might be at the time? T

BTW, finishing WHAT job in Afghanistan? Supposedly, there are only 100 Al Q'aeeda left there, none of them high ranking. We probably have more than that in the U.S.

[cstanleytech]

56. Finishing the job by securing the country so the Taliban is

not hopefully able to retake control of the country, that job.

[marshall]

53. Is it snowing in hell yet?

And are the pigs flying?

[bigjohn16]

4. He's building a real coalition of the willing for his escalation. nt

[onehandle]

5. Unlike Bush, who didn't give his military commanders what they needed and gave us this quagmire.

Say it, Alaskan blogger. Say it!

[No Elephants]

48. Military commanders always say the solution is more troops. That is the lesson of Vietnam.

One of many lessons of Vietnam that we apparently forgot, just as we forgot the lessons of the "Great" Depression.

[rurallib]

6. tell Obama to give her a helicopter and direction to Afghanistan

she'll know what to do

[ixion]

7. This should make Obama turn and run screaming in the other direction

if he had any common sense.

[Soylent Brice]

8. if this isn't a huge red flag for DUers, i don't know what the fuck will be.

[OhioChick]

9. Exactly. Speaks Volumes. n/t

[saracat]

10. That was my first thought!

[ixion]

13. exactly

[Alcibiades]

14. How about Mitch McConnell's endorsement?

"I support the President's decision to follow the advice of Generals Petraeus and McChrystal in ordering a surge of forces into Afghanistan. The additional forces in support of a counterinsurgency strategy will allow our commanders to begin the difficult work of preparing and deploying the ground forces necessary to reverse the momentum of the Taliban. The president was right to call for building a sufficient 'Afghan capacity' that will allow for our troops to come home, rather than setting a hard withdrawal date that's not based on conditions on the ground or the advice of our generals.

We owe it to the American people to ensure that Afghanistan never again serves as a sanctuary for Al Qaeda. We owe it to the brave Americans who are now or will be deployed in pursuit of this objective to provide every resource necessary to prevail. As this surge of forces produces results in security, governance and in capabilities of the Afghanistan Security Forces, we must ensure that the transition of responsibilities is based on conditions, not timelines."

An even bigger red flag.

[mbperrin]

16. Yep.

Known by the company kept....

[tekisui]

23. The Taliban are praising it, too.

[high density]

34. What does that have to do with anything?

The GOP is great at dividing the left. It's so fucking easy.

If you read a little more, you see she's disappointed that Obama hasn't signed us up for never-ending warfare.

[Soylent Brice]

42. i did read that. i also still read that she's happy about more troops.

so...

??

[No Elephants]

49. That's only because she is a fool or disingenuous or both. It's silly not to realize

that, at any point, Obama can say, "Things have changed. Our national security requires that we stay longer. In fact, it requires even more troops."

All we know for certain right now is that we are "surging" troops in Afghanistan, much as Bush did in Iraq; and among those who approve are Palin, Gingrich and McConnell.

[mvd]

37. I'm someone who thinks war is practically never the right answer

If war brought peace, the world would be in harmony right now.

[Javaman]

54. One would think...

but I have seen otherwise here on DU.

It's down right scary. When being for peace and not for war is tantamount to saying Obama is the devil.

Once again, we peace-niks are looked upon as crazy.

[Soylent Brice]

55. right there is the understatement of the last 48 hrs.

[harun]

62. It won't be, as you already know.

Newt and Palin can't contain themselves because (1) they know it is a huge mistake and (2) they know it will erode Obama's base.

[krabigirl]

63. seriously...but then again, he always said he wanted to escalate Afghanistan.

[Botany]

11. now why would that nitwit's thoughts on anything be worth knowning?

[closeupready]

12. Oh, good. That makes me feel better.

Obama must be so proud that Republicans are patting him on the back.

[Steerpike]

15. omfg!

That's just too rich!

[elocs]

17. That Palin has praise for Obama's plan speaks volumes about it,

and none of it good.

[bc3000]

18. no it doesn't

It says nothing about the plan. She just repeats whatever they tell her to say. The idea that Palin actually formulates her own opinions on policy is absurd.

[elocs]

26. Yes it does. n/t

[cstanleytech]

41. No, it doesnt.

Especially since I doubt she even could find Afghanistan on a map let alone spell it :p lol

[No Elephants]

50. Whatever "they" tell her to say? And by "they" you mean Republicans

like Newt Gingrich and Mitch McConnell? You feel better about going in their direction than you do going in hers?

[Richardo]

29. She *doesn't* agree with the plan

...which is disengagement in July 2011. She only agrees with the escalation, which is the means to disengagement.

[No Elephants]

51. Please see Reply 49.

Escalation is a means to disengagement?

War is Peace.

[alarimer]

58. Don't you know right makes right?

War is peace? We've fallen down another rabbit hole.

[Richardo]

30. .

.

[WhiteTara]

19. if Sarah thinks this is great

you know we are in deep trouble.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

20. Hope! Change! Bombs!

Thanks, Sarah, for making it clear exactly which value systems are running this nation.

[superconnected]

21. Why do we care what bimbo thinks? Why does she have a press agent sending what crap she thinks to

the press? What a media whore.

[SOS]

60. Agree

Nobody should care what this unemployed Alaskan villager thinks on any topic.

[Kablooie]

22. Oh no. So Obama's decision WAS the wrong one!

[bluestateguy]

24. Sounds like a pretty condescending statement of support if you ask me

and she has no standing or knowledge of national security anyway.

[Roland99]

27. Hey! She's been in some pretty mean snowball fights, don'tcha know.

[pjt7]

28. Palin would have given the same speech

.

[mvd]

31. These Repukes are truly dangerous

Geez, they would have us in Afghanistan just like in the book 1984 - permanently. I don't agree with Obama on the surge, but wish him success - or else, we'll get another Bush-type.

[xultar]

32. This is fucking beautiful! BUHWAWAWAWA...I am laughing my ass off.

[Jefferson23]

33. That should seal it for anyone who thought Obama's decision was a wise one, if this

asshole agrees with you....reconsider your position asap.

[Brother Buzz]

35. Facebook?

Does she even know her password has been changed by her handlers?

[Raschel]

36. So obvious she doesn't write these facebook comments.

[DebbieCDC]

38. Now I'm sure Obama's made the wrong decision

Not that I needed Moosebreath to come to that conclusion...it just reinforces my opinion.

[bitchkitty]

39. Good - maybe he'll realize he made the wrong decision now. n/t

[Demeter]

43. PROOF That It Was Totally Wrong Decision--Sarah Approves!

as if we needed proof....

[unkachuck]

46. sorry Demeter....

....I said what you just said....but then it's not what you say, it's how you look....and you look marvelous....

[Demeter]

52. Thank you

[MisterP]

44. might have to recolor the left sleeve in your sigline pic to Dolores Umbridge Pink... nt

[unkachuck]

45. if palin likes....

....Obamas' war-mongering decision, then you know for sure, Obama's made the wrong decision....

[alarimer]

57. Now I KNOW it's the wrong thing to do.

The moronic right-wing princess is in favor of it; it must be very wrong.

[mstinamotorcity]

59. Tell that silly

heifer to stay out of politics.Quit kissing McCain's butt he won't use her as his rah,rah team. He blames her for losing.And didn't she quit politics. Shouldn't that retiree be sitting on her front porch looking at Russia while rocking her adorable grandbaby on her knees.

[Arkana]

61. Oh God...I think I'm...I'm gonna hurl.

However, I think it's a lot like the Louis Farrakhan thing from back in the primaries--you can't really control who will come out and endorse your decisions.

What if Sarah came out and said "Gosh golly, folks, I think we SHOULD have universal health care, a strong public option, and heavy regulatory measures on insurance companies!" Would that make it wrong?