The military failed the President and the Nation

[BrentWil]

Let me start off this thread by saying that the title is true, ONLY if Mr. Woodward is accurate in his new book, "Obama's Wars" While I have ordered the book, this article from the WP was based upon the book.

WP Ariticle

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.

The article goes on to show how the military pushed for an expanded mission and more resources. The failure being, it isn't the military job not to present the Commander in Chief with certain strategic options. If President Obama wanted to reduce the mission, he should have had that option presented to him.

I would also argue that an expanded mission is the wrong direction for the war. Right now, we have huge supply lines going through Pakistan that both destabilize that country and put us under their thumb. This is a country that is nuclear and a country that could collapse. Our true democratic alley in the region, India, has been playing second fiddle. I would argue, that in this case, President Obama wanted to go the right direction in Afghanistan.

We will never build Afghanistan, unless we maintain a high degree of effort for 75 to 100 years. Even if we do build it, it is still a second rate country. The right path for the war would have been to reduce our force structure in the country, fight attrition warfare there. COIN is the wrong strategy and takes our eye off of the bigger GWOT.

However, more importantly, the military is under civilian control. It clearly had the course of action it wanted to take. However, not allowing the Commander and Chief to truly see all options, is a failure to both the President and to the Country.

[Parche]

1. It should say that the military commanders

not the whole military....:hi::patriot:

[BrentWil]

2. Well at this time, the military was its leaders. I think the title is fine. NT