Surrender Is The Option In Afghanistan

By Semperpapa

The pundits are pouring over the Afghanistan surrender speech from Obama. On Wednesday evening, Obama announced that in July 2011 a withdrawal of 11,000 troops from Afghanistan will take place, in his words remaining faithful to the timeline he had established when he authorized the half hearted surge in 2009. An alleged feather in the cap for the re-election bid of 2012.

So, what do we have here? In one word: surrender.
By any account, as I wrote about it in the past, the idea of telling the enemy the strategic approach ahead of time is just a mere political move, with Military consideration not being weighed. It make absolutely no strategic sense.
The enemy is only required to sit back and wait for the civilian leadership in Washington to get deeper into their campaigning in order to receive back on a silver plate all that the Military took away via great expenditure of blood and treasure.
And while all this happens and Obama splits his precious time between golf, vacations and fund raising, the troops on the battlefield see their ability to hold and defend reduced.
Is such an approach Militarily sound? Only to a political beast like Obama.
And while some of the Military families are amazingly hailing this president as a friend of the Military thanks to few crumbs he has thrown at them and few campaigning appearances from Michelle, clearly ignoring the true opinion from the CinC, it is tactically well known that reducing troop level and announcing a timeline, will place those remaining in greater jeopardy.

Military commanders on the ground are not too happy with the decision and the modality of application, but ultimately they answer to the Commander-in-Chief and cannot express openly their opinions.
Afghan president Amid Karzai stated that the new generation of Afghans are ready to take the reins of the country and lead it to the future. Great words from this corrupted, treasonous individual, who we helped maintain power and who is not even waiting for our troops to leave before getting in bed with Iran.

During Obama's speech, where no American flag could be seen, no mention of "success" or "victory" anywhere. Mainly because the only victory Obama is seeking is over the America he so vehemently wants to "transform", and the only success he is going after is his political one in his bid to destroy our system.

And than there are the polls. It has been said that 56% of the American people are tired of the war. Was the poll made among Military families? Who was polled for this?
In reality, looking at the disconnect that the average American has with the Military, I find it interesting that so many people would be against a Military engagement that has not touched them personally. It is very easy to just say "this war has gone on for too long" when the person never had to endure having a loved one in combat, when they never had to see a loved one leave or ever been at a Military funeral. Are the polled individuals the same ones who could not name the Vice President or what the Declaration of Independence was written?
And what about the thousands of Gold Star families? Is surrender in Afghanistan rendering their losses insignificant? In Vietnam, American Military won every battle on the field, only to be betrayed by the civilian leadership in Washington. Over 57,000 names on the Wall, not to mention the treatment Veterans of that conflict received, should be a historical reminder of what political handling of a conflict results in.

If the situation in Afghanistan is so good, if Obama's strategy has been so successful, then why not take ALL our troops out of there and bring them home? Why reduce forces and increase the danger to the remaining ones by thinning their ranks?
Obama boasts that he ended the war in Iraq, than why are flag-draped coffins of KIAs from Iraq keep on coming home?

I am now sure that the strategy of surrender will have a decisive effect on the US-Taliban negotiations supposedly ongoing. Dealing with the enemy from a position of weakness. Well done Mr. President.

Just my thoughts!