Yesterday, President Obama hailed the fact that one Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe, voted for the Senate Finance Committee’s healthcare legislation, saying that the “proposal has both Democratic and Republican support” and “includes ideas from both Democrats and Republicans.” Perhaps the president should deliver remarks from the Rose Garden about the real issue gaining bipartisan support in Congress — Gen. McChrystal’s request for the additional troops required in Afghanistan to implement a successful counterinsurgency strategy. For months, Republicans have made clear that they will support the president if he decides to send additional troops. Now, many Democrats are calling on the president to support Gen. McChrystal. First there was House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO), who earlier this month called on the President to listen to Gen. McChrystal’s recommendations, a sentiment supported by Sen. Dianne Feinstein on ABC’s This Week on Sunday. And yesterday, World War II veteran Sen. Daniel Inouye, recently back from Afghanistan and Pakistan, issued a statement saying that:
As David Rogers of Politico notes, Inouye’s trip to the region seems to have persuaded him that the war is winnable. Just several weeks ago he said “Alexander the Great tried to do something there and he got thrown out. The Russians got thrown out. The British got thrown out, and the Germans before that went in and left right away. For some reason, Afghanistan always has succeeded in getting people out of there.” Instead of focusing on chimeras like supposed bipartisan support for health-care reform, President Obama should stop his public dithering and support his commanders on an issue where there is real, not fabricated, bipartisan support.
