Obama and L.B.J.
22 August 2009 11:58 pm by Taylor Marsh
I’ve been struggling a lot lately with Pres. Obama’s words to the VFW last week. Thinking more and more about Afghanistan as a “war of necessity,” which I believe it was immediately after 9/11. But the new escalation possibilities worry me a lot, even as I think about the women and girls, with the importance of continuing to support whatever changes can manifest for them amidst the culture.
L.B.J. has been on my mind as these thoughts trudge across my mind, so when I saw Baker’s piece the questions came even quicker.
Afghanistan could turn the picture here of L.B.J. into a 21st century casting of Pres. Obama in his place.
The conundrum is that we can’t leave right now, but support for Afghanistan is dwindling, while the reality that we can never out last the Taliban harkens back to something L.B.J. didn’t learn.
Americans aren’t paying attention to it either, which is how L.B.J. was able to do what he did with Vietnam. So, the very same thing could easily happen again.
