Obama gets a ‘We told you so’ on premature military withdrawal

Re-Do

Every now and then a politician gets a reality check that is 100% opposite of their policy. In the case of a political promise to withdraw from the conflict in Iraq, it seems the overruled Generals did know exactly what they were talking about.

Politicians are politicians, they may know diplomacy, but unless they have had some other experience that qualifies them as an expert or well informed person, chances are their wants don’t match reality. In one example, Thai politicians wanted the new airport opened early, but the fresh cement simply did not care and it was going to dry and set on it’s own time table despite how loud and angry the politicians got. In the end the cement got its way and the airport was not opened until the cement was good and ready.

In the case of President Obama’s goals to withdraw from Iraq on some politically driven arbitrary timetable, it is becoming clear overriding the Generals understanding of the situation and speeding things up is backfiring. The Generals knew that the Iraq army was not ready to go it alone. Sure they could deal with some things, but put the heavy weights on the bar and it is another story. To make matters worse, Afghanistan’s military is in even worse shape, and a similar politically driven arbitrary timetable is in place there as well.

Some time back Connecting the Dots did an article on this suggesting that parental responsibility does apply to war as well. A parent would not turn their child loose on the world until they were ready. Allowing a 10 year old to drive is a disaster waiting to happen. They don’t have the maturity, skills, and possibly are too small to reach the pedals and look out the window at the same time to see where they are going.

Much is the case with Iraq and clearly with Afghanistan as well. The United States parented the war in Iraq, so it only makes sense to stay there until they are ready to properly go it on their own. Although Emancipation is an option, it is often not wise based on the same reasons for age of consent laws. There is a lack of maturity in adolescents that are sexually mature but are not ready for the responsibilities of being a parent.

It is clear Iraq not being ready is the case, and no matter how Obama looks to spin this, the reality of Emancipation style military withdrawal is coming back to haunt him. Very simply early military withdraw was never a realistic option, and people with common sense saw this clearly despite what Obama felt. The chance of losing all the gains is a real possibility, and political repercussions at this point is a given.

So depending on your view of this, you could take option ‘A’ and get some popcorn and watch this fiasco in Washington unfold. Or you can take option ‘B’ and understand that common sense sometimes eludes politicians and you should take care in who you vote for despite their political position. After all, how many politicians tried to eliminate prostitution and failed. The exact number is unknown, but it is certain the number that tried matches exactly the number that failed.


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