The article about Afghanistan policy in today’s Washington Post is full of snide, self-confident, anonymous criticism of General Stanley McChrystal, the man Obama chose to lead U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The tone of the criticism is consistent with the arrogance of the Obama White House. But in this case, it’s also counterproductive. Not just because it’s bad form to mock your lead wartime commander in news articles, but because in several cases McChrystal is making arguments that the president himself made — almost verbatim — in recent months. For instance, according to the Post:
Is that a myth? Here is Barack Obama on March 27, 2009, announcing his first new strategy for Afghanistan: “And if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban – or allows al Qaeda to go unchallenged – that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can.” He added:
Later in the Post article, the reporters quote a “senior Obama official” comparing Afghanistan and Pakistan. “Eight months ago, if you had asked people which was worse, everybody would have said Pakistan is worse and Afghanistan is in good shape.” Afghanistan was in good shape? 2008 was the deadliest year for American troops there. Nobody paying any attention to developments there believed that it was “in good shape.” Consider: Admiral Mike Mullen, in an interview on March 1, 2009, spoke of the “growing security concerns that we all have with respect to what’s going on in Afghanistan.” In late February, President Obama said: “With respect to Afghanistan, I think that all of us believe that the situation has deteriorated somewhat there.” And in his March 27 speech, he said:
So who, exactly, is clueless here?
