I have my doubts.
Whether He Likes It or Not, Obama Must Command - Michael Barone - National Review Online
Obama must set a course to produce victory in Afghanistan.
We didn’t need this. By “we,” I mean the large majority of citizens who want America to succeed in Afghanistan. By “this,” I mean the Rolling Stone article that quoted Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his aides saying uncomplimentary things about Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and other civilian officials.
...It surely must have been an excruciating decision for President Obama. He installed McChrystal in his post after removing his predecessor, and he largely agreed to his strategy last December after a three-month review — though he added a July 2011 deadline for the start of troop withdrawals.
Like most American presidents, and like all presidents during the last 50 years, Obama came to office with little preparation for being commander-in-chief....
...Unfortunately, there’s not much correlation between the skill set needed to win the Iowa caucuses and the Super Tuesday primaries and that needed to decide on military strategies and to select the appropriate commanders for different military operations.
Something about experience and knowledge...or at least having good people having around you to assist you. Good people. Joe "Assassination Insurance" Biden. Rham "Dead Fish" Emanuel.
Obama’s decision-making on Afghanistan so far could be characterized as splitting the difference. He added troops early on and opted for McChrystal’s counterinsurgency strategy while propitiating his party’s left with something in the nature of a deadline for withdrawal.
In other words, he didn't made a decision. Welcome to being in the center seat man-child.
....And it may be time for Obama to embrace a word he has been reluctant to utter: “victory.” His duty is to set a course that will produce success, to install the people who can achieve that goal, and to give them the backing they need.
We didn’t need this, and Barack Obama didn’t, either. But he wanted the job, and now he must command.
He wanted the job, he wanted to be president and be cheered and powerful. But he has shown himself unable to handle the requirements of the job. Hopefully he hasn't damaged the country too much.
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