And first reaction: Hatoyama: Japan not to provide further aid for Afghanistan http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/02/content_12575270.htm
Peace and best wishes. Xi On 2 dic, 15:18, xi <[email protected]> wrote: > My comment: I just posts one article. > > Peace and best wishes. > > Xi > > Obama Joins Johnson in Escalating Unpopular War He > Inheritedhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akdZCMCkLKRE&pos=9 > > Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s announcement that he’ll > send 30,000 more U.S. troops to fight in Afghanistan had echoes of > many of his predecessors whose ranks he has joined -- war presidents. > > It is a collection of leaders with mixed political fates. History > suggests failure is at least as likely as success, with early > assurances collapsing under the weight of events the presidents > couldn’t contain. > > “More often than not, presidents misjudge what they achieve through > these conflicts and then they are unable to control the domestic > agenda when they become distracted by war,” said Robert Dallek, a > presidential historian. > > “This idea of guns and butter that Johnson talked about is false,” he > said, referring to former President Lyndon Johnson, who escalated U.S. > involvement in Vietnam at the same time he expanded social-welfare > programs at home. > > Obama’s challenge is greater in many ways because he’s also pressing > to remake health care, which represents about 18 percent of the > nation’s economy, reverse an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent and > deal with a record $1.4 trillion deficit. And the war itself, polls > show, is increasingly unpopular. > > The White House estimates the cost of the additional troops will be > $30 billion next year. Versions of health-care legislation are > estimated to cost between $848 billion and more than $1 trillion over > 10 years. Some Democrats are pushing the president to propose a second > economic-stimulus package on top of the $787 billion plan, and Obama > has said he wants climate- change legislation, which may also prove > costly. > > Like Iraq Surge > > On Afghanistan, the president decided the infusion of troops might > have the same effect as the 2007 surge of American forces in Iraq, > namely to produce a more stable country on the road to lasting > progress, a senior White House official said. > > Unlike President George W. Bush, who said that setting a date certain > for troop withdrawal would embolden the enemy, Obama has calculated > that announcing an exit timetable would prompt Afghans to move faster > to take control of their country, the official said. > > Obama’s message that the Afghan people “will ultimately be responsible > for their own country” recalled the words of John F. Kennedy about > Vietnam when he said in September 1963: “In the final analysis, it is > their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it.” > > Recalling Johnson > > Acceding to his generals’ calls for more troops was reminiscent of > Johnson as he stepped up the conflict in Southeast Asia. “If you’re > going to put one soldier in, make damned sure you have enough,” he > said, according to an oral history by McGeorge Bundy, Johnson’s > national security adviser. > > Public anger about the Vietnam War prompted a challenge to Johnson in > the Democratic primaries in 1968 and ultimately his decision not to > run for a second full term. > > Harry Truman, facing a public restive about the war in Korea, also > decided against seeking a second full term in 1952. He announced his > decision about a month after a Gallup Poll showed him with a 22 > percent approval rating, the lowest of any American president since > Gallup’s first survey in 1935. > > Dwight Eisenhower, the retired general who led the Allied forces to > victory in World War II, won as a peace candidate. An estimated 28,500 > U.S. forces are still in South Korea. > > “We have done very poorly in our history exiting wars,” said Ken > Warren, a professor of political science at St. Louis University. “We > don’t know how to.” > > Mindful of Vietnam > > Obama was mindful of the Vietnam analogy, and said the comparison was > inaccurate because the U.S. is “joined by a broad coalition of 43 > nations” in Afghanistan and that troops weren’t facing a “popular > insurgency” there. “Most importantly,” he said, “unlike Vietnam, the > American people were viciously attacked from Afghanistan and remain a > target for those same extremists who are plotting along its border.” > > Obama is also caught between Democrats who have opposed the war and > Republicans who support the conflict yet not new taxes to pay for it. > > “He’ll be placed in a vice grip of deficits and following a > conservative’s policy,” said George Edwards, a presidential scholar at > Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. “It’s irritating the > left and it’s irritating the right. It can define his presidency.” > > Lack of consensus about Afghanistan and Americans’ concerns about the > direction of the economy have left Obama with approval ratings that > are near the lowest of his presidency. A Gallup tracking poll had him > with a 51 percent rating yesterday. > > No Guarantees > > At the same time, successful conflicts haven’t ensured popularity. > George H.W. Bush had an approval rating of 89 percent during the Gulf > War in February 1991 only to lose his re-election bid to Bill Clinton > in 1992. George W. Bush, who referred to himself as a “war president,” > saw his ratings climb to 90 percent after the Sept. 11 attacks. > Americans initially supported his war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq > and he won re-election, only to see his ratings plunge to 27 percent > by September 2008. > > Even Franklin Roosevelt, elected to a fourth term in 1944, faced > opposition to his domestic programs as victory in World War II was > becoming more likely. As David Greenberg, a history professor at > Rutgers University in New Jersey says, Roosevelt proposed an “economic > bill of rights” that promised 60 million jobs, among other items. He > won with his lowest Electoral College vote total. > > “It’s Johnson’s war, it’s Nixon’s war, it’s Bush’s war, now it’s > Obama’s war,” said Warren. “He will be defined as a war president.” -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en.
