Hours after President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress, The New York Times printed the news that he plans to gradually withdraw "American combat forces" from
Presidentin puheessa ei ollut juurikaan sanottavaa eskaloitumissuunnitelmista, mutta muutamat sanat jäävät kummittelemaan: "Ystävien ja liittolaisten kanssa kehitämme uuden ja kattavan strategian Afganistanille ja Pakistanille Al-Qaidan kukistamiseksi ja ääriliikkeiden torjumiseksi. koska en anna terroristien suunnitella amerikkalaisia vastaan turvasatamaista puoleen maailmaan, me emme salli sitä."
Obama didn’t mention the additional number of US troops – 17,000 – that he has just ordered to
Get the message? In his first speech to Congress, the new president threw down a 90-month-old gauntlet, reaffirming the notion that committing to war halfway around the world – in
And so, a colossal and fateful blunder, made by a very smart leader, arguably our best and brightest, is careening forward with the help of silence that defers all too readily to power. This is how the war in
The reasons the war in
Those who are fond of talking and writing about President Obama’s admirable progressive values will, sooner or later, need to come to terms with the particulars of his actual policies. In foreign affairs, the realities now include the ominous pairing of his antiterrorism rhetoric and his avowed commitment to ratchet up the
En tee ennusteita usein, mutta olen luottavainen tämän suhteen: Muutaman vuoden sisällä jotkut kongressin jäsenet ja joidenkin edistyksellisten ryhmien johtajat, joilla on valtavat sähköpostilistat, katsovat taaksepäin katuen, kun he muistavat epäonnistuneensa selkeästi. ja vastustaa avoimesti Afganistanin sodan keskeistä kärjistymistä.
They could save themselves a lot of shame, and save others their lives, by speaking out sooner rather than later. In the process, they might help save the Obama presidency from running aground in
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Norman Solomon is the author of "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death," which has been adapted into a documentary film of the same name. For video of his appearance on C-SPAN’s "Washington Journal" to discuss Obama and the war in
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