Military thwarted President seeking choice in Afghanistan

[spanone]

President Obama was on edge.

For two exhausting months, he had been asking military advisers to give him a range of options for the war in Afghanistan. Instead, he felt that they were steering him toward one outcome and thwarting his search for an exit plan. He would later tell his White House aides that military leaders were "really cooking this thing in the direction they wanted."

He was looking for choices that would limit U.S. involvement and provide a way out. His top three military advisers were unrelenting advocates for 40,000 more troops and an expanded mission that seemed to have no clear end. When his national security team gathered in the White House Situation Room on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2009, for its eighth strategy review session, the president erupted.

"So what's my option? You have given me one option," Obama said, directly challenging the military leadership at the table, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, then head of U.S. Central Command.

"We were going to meet here today to talk about three options," Obama said sternly. "You agreed to go back and work those up."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/26/AR2010092603766_pf.html

[monmouth]

1. The POTUS is the CIC, boss, if you will, of the military. This really

ticks me off. Obama is to tell them, dictate if that's what it comes down to, what he wants. Give the friggin orders to the generals and make them do what you want. This is NOT difficult. I'm going out now to look for some spines for the dems...

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Did the military force him to use his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

to stump for more war?

[zipplewrath]

5. No congress

From what I'm being told around here constantly, he was forced to do that by the Senate filibuster some how. We apparently just don't understand how congress works.

[gratuitous]

3. So, what happened?

Did the President dismiss the advisors who failed him, or did he reward them by following their recommendation? I hope they were sufficiently impressed by stern words!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Well, so much for the "Civilian controlled military" myth.

The mistake was, and continues to be, sending the military to deal with a diplomatic/criminal action.

Kinda like hiring a blind rhinoceros to do brain surgery.