After Bucking Holbrooke's Advice On Afghanistan, Obama Invokes His Name

[onehandle]

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama asserted on Thursday that the White House's questionable assessment of progress in Afghanistan "reflect(s) the dedication of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose memory we honor and whose work we'll continue."

There's little doubt that the president's chief envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, who died Monday of complications from an aortic dissection, tried his damnedest to make Obama's strategy work.

But the reality is that a year ago, when Obama was choosing between escalation and deescalation in the region, Holbrooke was one of several top advisors who cautioned him that the path he ultimately chose -- sending in 30,000 more American troops -- simply could not succeed.

Behind closed doors, Holbrooke was widely known to be one of the most voluble members of a high-level faction that Obama chose to spurn. In Obama's War, Bob Woodward writes that Holbrooke considered it a "central truth" that the war "would not end in a military victory," but rather when the warring parties were "brought together diplomatically."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/obama-richard-holbrooke-advice_n_797863.html

[tekisui]

1. Check your html formatting, The bulk of the post has strikthrough.

Probably an open bracket somewhere.

And, knr.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Prolly intentional.

[onehandle]

3. LOL. I fixed it while you posted.

The open brackets came with the c&p'd text.

Replaced with parentheses.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

5. The original was better.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama asserted on Thursday that the White House's questionable assessment of progress in Afghanistan "reflect(s) the dedication of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose memory we honor and whose work we'll continue."

There's little doubt that the president's chief envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, who died Monday of complications from an aortic dissection, tried his damnedest to make Obama's strategy work.

But the reality is that a year ago, when Obama was choosing between escalation and deescalation in the region, Holbrooke was one of several top advisors who cautioned him that the path he ultimately chose -- sending in 30,000 more American troops -- simply could not succeed.

Behind closed doors, Holbrooke was widely known to be one of the most voluble members of a high-level faction that Obama chose to spurn. In Obama's War, Bob Woodward writes that Holbrooke considered it a "central truth" that the war "would not end in a military victory," but rather when the warring parties were "brought together diplomatically."

[Mimosa]

4. Interesting observation by Holbrooke here..

From OP link:

"Woodward also describes Holbrooke's conclusion that escalation wouldn't change the two weakest links in the U.S. plan -- namely, corruption and the sorry state of the Afghan police -- and just might make them worse. "Our presence is the corrupting force," Holbrooke is quoted as saying. As for the Afghan police, their enormous attrition rates make Obama's recruitment goals impossible. "It's like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it, " Holbrooke reportedly said."

The current grim Depression type economy is what is making OUR military recruitment goals achievable. Was this type of economy planned as being 'useful' to the goal of unending wars?

[ProudDad]

10. Yep

"Was this type of economy planned as being 'useful' to the goal of unending wars?"

Another useful side effect of the attack on the Working Class...

An endless supply of cannon fodder...

With nothing else to do...

[JoePhilly]

6. A better way to "spurn Holbrooke" would be to REPLACE HIM ...

Geeeze.

If Obama has a variety of folks around him, and he does not act as any specific one wants, he SPURNED them.

It would be MUCH easier for Obama to appoint those who share a common opinion. Then, no one gets "spurned".

[struggle4progress]

7. ... When the question was put, Lincoln voted "Aye." The rest of the cabinet

to a man cast their votes in the negative. Lincoln stood and said, :Gentlemen, the ayes have it" ...
Abraham Lincoln
Nathan William MacChesney
A.C. McClurg & Co., 1910
p 525

[GeorgeGist]

8. With one hand he freed the slaves,

and with the other he enslaved a Nation.

[struggle4progress]

11. Not a Lincoln fan? Too bad.

[ProudDad]

9. Hell, he sullied the Peace Prize

with the same sort of shit...

Move along...Nothing to see here...

[Go2Peace]

12. To be fair, it's unfair to critisize the President on this

Holbrooke died. What do people expect the president to say at the moment?

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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