What a difference a year makes. Barack Obama, July 2008:
Contending that the U.S. is not pursuing a sound strategy for keeping Americans safe, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Tuesday that fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan would be his top priority after ending the war in Iraq. “This is a war that we have to win,” Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at the International Trade Center in Washington…
“By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe,” Obama said. “In fact — as should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. McCain — the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was.”… “Sen. McCain said — just months ago — that Afghanistan is not in trouble because of our diversion to Iraq. I could not disagree more. Our troops and our NATO allies are performing heroically in Afghanistan, but I have argued for years that we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to Iraq,” Obama said.
Barack Obama, July 2009:
President Obama has put securing Afghanistan near the top of his foreign policy agenda, but “victory” in the war-torn country isn’t necessarily the United States’ goal, he said Thursday in a TV interview. “I’m always worried about using the word ‘victory,’ because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur,” Obama told ABC News.
One of the left’s oh-so-nuanced defenses about Dear Leader’s walk back has been that he was never talking about a military victory. Which is weird because it certainly seems like a call for a military victory, what with how he said we need more troops to “finish the job” in the “war that we have to win.” That’s certainly how it was interpreted by the Associated Press when they reported his speech under the headline “Obama says a victory is a must in the war in Afghanistan.”
Ah well. The hard left has spent the last few years insisting that victory in Afghanistan is impossible. “The place where empires go to die,” etc etc. Looks like they were right! Sorry America. If you wanted a guy who was serious about victory in Afghanistan – rather than a guy who was using it to deflect attention from his Iraq defeatism – you should have elected the candidate who published a “Comprehensive Strategy for Victory in Afghanistan.”
References:
* Obama: We Have To Win In Afghanistan [Sweetness and Light]
* Obama: ‘Victory’ Not Necessarily Goal in Afghanistan [Fox News]
* Obama says a victory is a must in the war in Afghanistan
Previously:
* Politico: Obama “Takes Tough Stance On Iran” By Urging Engagement
* Obama Rushing To Reinstall Clinton-Era Counterterrorism Approach
* New Obama Guidelines Already Undermining Military By Chilling Qualified Hires
