editor’s note: i am far too sad to get angry today. many thanks to George Held for expressing the grief so many of us are feeling right now.
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The sun set last night on the Obama administration. When the President, at West Point, the cradle of our military leadership, announced that it was in “our vital interest” to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, he showed himself unable to sit for a portrait in courage. He showed that he compares not with John F. Kennedy but with Lyndon B. Johnson, one of only three one-term presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower finished his second term in 1960: Carter, Johnson, and GHW Bush. All failed to lead as necessary.
Like Johnson, Mr. Obama succumbed to the temptation to take an unpopular war on his shoulders and to escalate it, though each must have known that it would fracture his support so badly that he would sacrifice his dream of a second term. That is why Mr. Obama’s coal-black eyes, underlined with dark circles, burned just short of tearing as he somberly laid out his war agenda before the assembled Corps of Cadets last night.
Mr. Obama does not want that evening sun to set on his efforts, often indecisive, to lead the nation in a more progressive direction. But he fell for the lure of being a wartime leader and took, to the best of his ability, a military posture at the Point. Still, I suspect he knows better than to think that the US can defeat the elusive and committed Taliban in their unforgiving mountainous habitat any more than the Russians, with far more troops, could quell Afghanistan, where other foreign empires have also failed to win a war.\
That is why Mr. Obama, having issued fighting orders to the Cadets, could be seen mouthing “thank you” to each one he shook hands with as he came down from the rostrum and entered their ranks.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die. . . .
Yes, after having ordered them into the Valley of Death, Mr. Obama came down from the mountain, and the once-hopeful sun he had brought to office set.
{ 7 comments }
You hit the nail on the head when you said that he wants the rep of being a wartime president. There is no money and power in peace.
This nation is bankrupt morally (not in the religious sense but rather in the ethical sense) and, soon, financially. At age 71, I can say that my time was a good time (meaning the 40s through the 80s), despite the tragedy of the Vietnam War. Our kids and our kids’ kids will never see those good years again. It is over for this country. We’ll hang on, a shadow of our former self, for years. But we’ve ignored too much for too long. Our infrastructure is second-rate, our schools don’t teach, and our government has been captured by special interests. Those who say that America will rise above our present fix are dead wrong.
The hopes were so high and the disappointment is so deep. Tom Friedman’s article in this morning’s NY Times (12/02/09) says well what I think and feel. Admittedly W. began and then mismanaged the imbroglio; now Obama persists in perpetuating the misguided policies of his predecessor. Thanks to Dr. Held for his insightful comments.
The assembly of the Corpse of Cadets were not smiling or cheering during the speech – it’s much more than the allure of being a war president – I think Obama has hit, less than a year into his presidency, the brick wall of the military industrial complex that is both the executive and legislative branches of our government. He, like Queen Elizabeth, is a figurehead. We are neck deep in fascism and so few of us are outraged. We have been numbed into submission. It’s not about the Taliban or Al Q’aeda – it’s about oil, it’s about the pipeline – it’s about keeping the fear level at Code Orange, it’s about controling fuel, water, food, healthcare, et cetera. It is time to over throw these shitheads with…well, new shitheads? We cannot be complicit in our numbness – and I know how tired most of us are after 8+ years of protesting, donating, signing petitions, being active. Ok, I’ll stop now.
I could never understand how old men can send all our young men and women off to war. And now they are going to “try” to finish this!! Obama said this is not Vietnam but he is wrong, it is his Vietnam whether he admits it or not. George you are right.
Dear George,
Here too we are very disappointed.
But the Dutch government has the same doubtful attitude. Parliament says: ‘no more Dutch troops to Afghansitan’. While the government wants to persist in sending troops.
Desparately,
Joke V.
Dear George,
good work my friend