Here's an open letter to Obama, from a rightist group including
(along with the ambitious Sarah
Palin) members of the PNAC gang that pushed for the invasion of Iraq.
Just as, in 1998, they
urged Bill Clinton to invade Iraq, then got their way with Bush & Co.
(Dick Cheney being one
of them), they're now demanding that this president "fully resource
the effort in Afghanistan."
They're pushing him like this because of rising public (and,
therefore, congressional)* opposition
to the Bush war in Afghanistan. So who will win this time? Will they
prevail again, despite the
vast catastrophe they brought down on Iraq (a nightmare that
continues)? Or will it, somehow,
be the rest of us? ("The rest of us" includes an ever-growing number
of our troops.)
Whatever you can do to tell Obama that this war is an atrocious
loser, do it loud and clear,
and do it now.
MCM
* http://news.mobile.msn.com/en-us/articles.aspx?afid=1&aid=32824741
Open Letter to President Obama on Afghanistan
http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/node/11818
September 7, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President:
The situation in Afghanistan is grave and deteriorating. This is in
part the legacy of an under resourced war effort that has cost us and
the Afghans dearly. The Taliban has retaken important parts of the
country, while a flawed U.S. strategy has led American forces into
secondary efforts far away from critical areas. However, we remain
convinced that the fight against the Taliban is winnable, and it is
in the vital national security interest of the United States to win
it.
You've called Afghanistan an "international security challenge of the
highest order, " and stated that "the safety of people around the
world is at stake." Last month you told a convention of veterans,
"Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If
left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe
haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. So this
is not only a war worth fighting. This is fundamental to the defense
of our people."
We fully agree with those sentiments. We congratulate you on the
leadership you demonstrated earlier this year when you decided to
deploy approximately 21,000 additional troops and several thousand
civilian experts as a part of a serious counterinsurgency campaign.
Your appointments of General Stanley McChrystal as top commander and
David Rodriguez as second in command in Afghanistan exemplified the
seriousness of purpose you spoke about during the campaign. We are
heartened to see that the much needed overhaul of our military
operations has begun.
Since the announcement of your administration's new strategy, we have
been troubled by calls for a drawdown of American forces in
Afghanistan and a growing sense of defeatism about the war. With
General McChrystal expected to request additional troops later this
month, we urge you to continue on the path you have taken thus far
and give our commanders on the ground the forces they need to
implement a successful counterinsurgency strategy. There is no middle
course. Incrementally committing fewer troops than required would be
a grave mistake and may well lead to American defeat. We will not
support half-measures that repeat the errors of the past.
This is, as you have said, a war that we cannot afford to lose.
Failure to defeat the Taliban would likely lead to a return of al
Qaeda to Afghanistan and could result in terrorist attacks on the
United States or our allies. An abandonment of Afghanistan would
further destabilize the region, and put neighboring Pakistan and its
nuclear arsenal at risk. All our efforts to support Islamabad's fight
against the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal regions will founder if we
do not match those achievements on the other side of that country's
porous northwestern border.
As you observed during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, "You
don't muddle through the central front on terror and you don't muddle
through going after bin Laden. You don't muddle through stamping out
the Taliban." We completely agree. Having "muddled through" in
Afghanistan for years, this is no longer a politically,
strategically, or morally sustainable approach.
Mr. President, you have put in place the military leadership and sent
the initial resources required to begin bringing this war to a
successful conclusion. The military leadership has devised a strategy
that will reverse the errors of previous years, free Afghans from the
chains of tyranny, and keep America safe. We call on you to fully
resource this effort, do everything possible to minimize the risk of
failure, and to devote the necessary time to explain, soberly and
comprehensively, to the American people the stakes in Afghanistan,
the route to success, and the cost of defeat.
With the continued bravery of our troops, and your continued full
support for them and their command team, America and our allies can
and will prevail in Afghanistan.
Sincerely,
Gary Bauer
Steve Biegun
Max Boot
Ellen Bork
Paul Bremer
Christian Brose
Debra Burlingame
Eliot A. Cohen
Ryan C. Crocker
Thomas Donnelly
Eric Edelman
William S. Edgerly
Jamie M. Fly
David Frum
Abe Greenwald
John Hannah
Pete Hegseth
Margaret Hoover
Thomas Joscelyn
Frederick W. Kagan
Robert Kagan
William Kristol
Tod Lindberg
Herbert London
Clifford May
Robert C. McFarlane
Joshua Muravchik
Andrew Natsios
Sarah Palin
Keith Pavlischek
Beverly Perlson
Danielle Pletka
John Podhoretz
Stephen Rademaker
Mitchell B. Reiss
Karl Rove
Jennifer Rubin
Randy Scheunemann
Gary Schmitt
Dan Senor
Ashley Tellis
Marc Thiessen
Daniel Twining
Peter Wehner
Kenneth Weinstein
Christian Whiton
Rich Williamson
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