In continuing the 18-year ban on media coverage of US troops returning home in body bags, President Bush insisted that he was doing so out of respect for the troops and regard for their families. But everybody knew that he was doing so because he feared that broadcasting this deadly cost would have a demoralizing impact on support for his “war on terror.”
Accordingly, I applauded President Obama when he ended this Orwellian ban. After all, the American people should be painfully aware of the human sacrifices inherent in any president’s decision to wage war.
Not to mention the irony of Obama insisting that he too was lifting the ban out of respect for the troops and regard for their families….
That said, I think it was a mistake for Obama to invite media coverage of him saluting the remains of 18 service members who were killed in Afghanistan on Monday; notwithstanding that going out to Dover Air Force Base “to observe up close this dignified transfer” was an unprecedented presidential move.
For this move would have been politically shrewd (perhaps even sensitive) only if he had already announced that he was withdrawing troops from this ill-fated war.
Instead, reports are that Obama has already made what he probably thinks is the Solomonic decision to send an additional 20 thousand troops to the killing fields of Afghanistan, giving his commanding general half of the 40 thousand he requested.
Unfortunately, this means that troops are bound to be returning home in body bags throughout his entire presidency. Because, frankly, given the military quagmire Afghanistan has become, sending 20 (or even 40) thousand additional troops amounts to the proverbial tossing of a 50-foot life line to a man drowning 100 feet away….
More to the point, one wonders how he’ll decide which dead soldiers will be worthy of his presidential salute. Or perhaps, henceforth, he’ll salute them all in the same spirit with which he claims he dutifully writes condolence letters to each of their families….
In either case, it does not bode well that this October has been the deadliest month in this eight-year war – with 54 soldiers paying the ultimate sacrifice.
Meanwhile, any troop escalation presents him with a political Catch-22: for on the one hand, this will not please conservative hawks who want to see enough troops deployed to rebuild Afghanistan in America’s image; while on the other, it is bound to alienate liberal doves who want to see all troops brought home, leaving that God-forsaken country to its own devices.
Of course I side unabashedly with the liberals in this context. But if Obama wants to continue waging this war, he should at least follow the Powell Doctrine by deploying an overwhelming number of troops (like 300,000 instead of the 150,000 Obama seems to think are necessary) to fight in, and take control of, every nook and cranny. Then, under martial law, the US could build Afghanistan into a country that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself, just as it did with Japan after World War II.
Otherwise:
… the US legacy there will be distinguished … by tens of thousands of American soldiers being committed to Afghanistan’s “graveyard of empires” as it continues fighting this unwinnable war (following its own Vietnam precedent)…
[Without [or even with] more troops, failure in Afghanistan is likely, TIJ, September 23, 2009]
In any event, I fear that this photo-op of him saluting America’s war dead will become the defining image of his presidency….
Related commentaries:
failure in Afghanistan is likely…
Karzai submits to runoff election
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.