tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736748953868699846.post3875329408561464295..comments2023-07-08T11:12:35.266-04:00Comments on Exploring the Political Spectrum: 20 Years Ago 17: Soft Powerschiller1979http://www.blogger.com/profile/13960814043853910096noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736748953868699846.post-62466691636524647122009-12-15T12:15:14.855-05:002009-12-15T12:15:14.855-05:00A very nice summary of the situation is contained ...A very nice summary of the situation is contained in a recent edition of, The Economist: <br />"On the one hand, he argued that the “safety of the American people” is at stake in this war. On the other, he betrayed his impatience for an exit and fretted confusingly about the cost. (Either Afghanistan is indeed “a war of necessity”, as he has called it, or it isn’t.) Even the time-frames written into his plan seem to have a political rationale as much as an operational one. The surge, faster than expected, will bring a welcome momentum, but also the suspicion that it is intended to show results before the 2010 American mid-term election. And the drawdown is due to start just ahead of the next presidential campaign."<br /><br />As they conclude: In trying to please everyone, he is pleasing no one.<br /><br />I apoligize for the long quote. But it is dead-on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com