Is somebody recording the statements this week of Obama, Clinton, Gates and Mullen about how the troop surge will work? The latter three made specific statements today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the beneficial impacts the surge will have in efforts against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region and in building the capabilities of the Afghan security forces. Someone needs to fact-check these statements against reality a year from now, 1.5 years from now and two years from now. That’s how I would spell a-c-c-o-u-n-t-a-b-i-l-i-t-y.
I appreciated the probing – and non-obsequious – questioning by Senators Russ Feingold and Barbara Boxer. More legislators, including John Kerry, need to be asking tough questions. It’s their job.
Unfortunately for Obama, I think this will turn out to be the defining moment of his first term in office. I do not think he will be able to win over the hearts and minds of the American people, and when this does not work, he’s going to pay dearly if he decides to run again.
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p>Having voted for Obama, this decision really disappoints me. I voted for him with the hopes that we as a country could move away from our “Bully” status on the world stage.
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p>I hope he has made the right decision, but I’m not too convinced. Can they “revoke” a Nobel Prize?
My understanding is that a big part of the Nobel regarded nuclear non-proliferation.
One has to remember that Carter was so disappointing to liberals that we supported Edward Kennedy against him in the primary, and that Clinton triangulated so much during his Presidency that one often forgot that he was a Democrat.
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p>You must expect Democratic Presidents to (a) be orders of magnitude better than Republican Presidents, (b) require lots of pressure and cajoling, and (c) disappoint early and often.