Reports Say Obama Looking for ‘Ramp to Withdraw’ on Afghanistan
12 November 2009 8:18 am by Taylor Marsh
updated below
Ambassador Eikienberry doesn’t trust the Karzai government. The AP is reporting that it’s had its desired affect. Pres. Obama is now rejecting all the current plans on the table for the next step in Afghanistan. So, the rewrite has begun.
I’ve been against more troops, because of the mountains of evidence obtained from months and months of study, conferences and conversations with the experts, people who have been on the ground in Afghanistan. So, when I read that a 10-15,000 troop increase was considered, I must say that it hit me as being worse than sending 35,000. The smaller troop increase would be a joke if it wouldn’t get people killed. There is no rationale whatsoever for sending in that small amount.
The New York Times has more:
The United States ambassador to Afghanistan, who once served as the top American military commander there, has expressed in writing his reservations about deploying additional troops to the country, three senior American officials said Wednesday.
… General Eikenberry sent his reservations to Washington in a cable last week, the officials said. In that same period, President Obama and his national security advisers have begun examining an option that would send relatively few troops to Afghanistan, about 10,000 to 15,000, with most designated as trainers for the Afghan security forces.
… A central focus of Mr. Obama’s questions, officials said, was how long it would take to see results and be able to withdraw.
“He wants to know where the off-ramps are,” one official said.
The off-ramp, path to withdraw option is the newest twist in what has become a seemingly unending process to decide what to do in Afghanistan. The good news is that it’s getting into the dead of winter, so the delay doesn’t mean much, as we can’t do much at this point.
The election results that defaulted to Karzai’s benefit has impacted the situation a great deal, according to just about everyone I’ve talked to on the issue. With good reason. Karzai is not only an unreliable partner, whose corruption is second only to the aid issues of private contractors, but who also has ignored humanitarian goals, especially that of women in the country. The Rape Law he allowed to pass, which was eventually pulled, is just one example. This issue isn’t going away and the U.S. cannot ignore it for its own selfish ends. We either stand up for human rights or not, as is our charge as a great nation.
All this being in the wind, however, I’m just not one of those people who are going to weigh the importance of being involved in a strategic area of the world against domestic issues, coming down in an either or argument. If the U.S. cannot balance our national security strategic imperatives and our domestic needs simultaneously, this country is in bigger trouble than anyone can imagine with the worse yet to come.
But an “off-ramp” from Afghanistan? When I play that suggestion out in my head, the long-term looks very grim.
Guess what? It’s grim already, with serious aid money within a system that de-couples the corruption embedded in the process what is really needed. It’s another reason the either or argument falls in on itself. Troop increase or not, aid will continue to flow, with the problems surrounding that spigot of influence immense.
What Obama is saying in all of this is simple. Onward to Pakistan.
UPDATE II: Spencer Ackerman adds some color on Eikenberry’s recommend, which made him the least popular man with the NSC.
UPDATE: Let me add as an observation, that whatever “official(s)” are leaking the “off-ramp” and “withdraw” consideration as part of the equation, before Pres. Obama has fully deliberated, once again are squeezing him politically. The noise machine will be in full gear on this one. It’s a tough spot for Obama, who is becoming increasingly isolated as the decision bears down on him with each passing day, emphasizing that being commander in chief is a position of one.
