Posted by
Buster Foghorn on Sunday, October 04, 2009 3:31:29 PM
During his campaign, President Obama's critics identified him as a state legislator known for delaying many decisions, for kicking the can down the road, the can symbolized by his significant number of “present” votes.
The question today is whether or not the President’s dismal loss in Copenhagen, a first round blow-out, garnering a meager 18 of 94 votes, a shellacking seldom experienced even by the hapless Mets, puts Mr. Obama in a decision box, a box limiting his options, requiring him to send 40,000 troops to Afghanistan as requested by General McChrystal, troops the General says are needed if we are to avoid losing the war, denying the President the option of either kicking the can down the road again with a half-measure decision, or walking away from Afghanistan and ordering a total withdrawal of all troops.
In fact, the International Olympic Committee shutout just about requires that he neither pull out as his left-wing base desires, nor that he follow the advice of the Vice President, Mr. Biden apparently arguing for an offshore approach with a reduced force structure, a move strikingly reminiscent of a present vote, a delaying tactic, a move that must surely be attractive to a President in love with the idea of not taking a stand, of not making an either or choice: all in or all out.
Whether you consider the Copenhagen junket a huge loss of face, on the scale of an 8.2 earthquake, or just a minor tremor, a quivering that removes the thrill from Chris Matthews’ leg, but otherwise passes quickly, Mr. Obama cannot afford to be tagged repeatedly as a “LOSER.”
And another “LOSER” tag is on deck as the Obama administration began talking with the Iranians this past week, looking for ways to walk back their nuclear ambitions, to reset their pell-mell march towards their promised destruction of Israel and the ushering in of the 12th imam. The smart money expects the Iranians to talk and talk until their bomb is fully operational. Since President Obama has already taken so much off the table it is, arguably, only a matter of time, unless Israel strikes, until Iran has a nuclear weapon. Mr. Obama has frequently asserted, however, that Iran would not be allowed to get a nuclear bomb, but such an eventuality is all but built into the game, and when it occurs it will be STRIKE 2 for the President: “LOSER.”
Meanwhile, a game-changing decision is needed in the Afghanistan war, and pulling all troops out of Afghanistan seems to be the President’s preferred position, but a withdrawal at this time would be a clear loss of “the real war,” unlike the diversion in Iraq as Mr. Obama called that conflict. And if the former junior Senator from Illinois rejects the request from General McChrystal for 40,000 more troops, it would be STRIKE 3 for the President: “LOSER.”
Iran and Afghanistan represent clear losses, losses potentially more existential than a failed Olympic bid, a bid where the IOC boots your city in the first round, losses possibly tagging him as a serial loser, perhaps beginning a death knell for his candidacy, ending any cooperation from blue dog democrats, a rallying cry for opponents, a demoralizing strike on Democrat efforts to recruit candidates for the next two elections cycles.
The President’s loss in Copenhagen makes it more likely he will reject any signal of failure in Afghanistan, assuring that he will send the General an additional 40,000 troops, committing him to a counter-insurgency strategy and a protracted war struggle. And so, the President will reluctantly grant the General’s call to add more troops, following LBJ into the abyss—and if he doesn’t do something quickly to fix his draconian Rules of Engagement Afghanistan could turn out worse for him than Vietnam did for LBJ.