Gates Uses The “W” Word
In Afghanistan, “We’re in this thing to win.” It’s great news, if in fact it reflects the position of the Obama administration. Washington Post:
“We are not going to repeat the experience of 1989,” Gates said. As U.S. troops begin to depart in favor of trained Afghan forces, developmental and economic aid will continue to flow, he stressed. “We intend to be their partner for a long time to come,” Gates said.
Gates’s remark that the United States is in the battle in Afghanistan “to win” marked an unusual description of the mission here by an administration official.
Obama has shied away from such expressive language, either in his speech last week announcing the decision to add at least 30,000 troops or when he first announced an Afghanistan strategy in March.
Since then, messengers have been sent out with all kinds of messages. Withdrawal firm. No withdrawal. Its almost as if the sage, presidential-like strategic deliberations that started last February … in/out, win/lose, more/less, fight/surrender … continue. But I suspect that Gates has overreached with his extreme use of the “W” word and Gibbs or someone will need to walk that back a little or at least explain in more considered terms what is meant by “win.” Because I don’t think anyone thinks that kind of rash, simplistic language properly reflects the position of the Obama administration vis-à-vis “the war” per se.
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Topics: Afghanistan,Obama
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:50 am Comments (1) on Tuesday, December 8, 2009
One Response to “Gates Uses The “W” Word”
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December 8th, 2009 at 11:23 am
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 12/08/2009 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.