Bob Woodward, quoting the Law-Prof-Turned-President from the forthcoming book "Obama's Wars:"
Mind you, Woodward writes well, and I suppose he see's his job as the first draft of history, so to speak - but his methodology leaves much to be desired, as the anonymity he affords his sources enable his sources to say pretty much what they want without gainsay - that and you have to leave aside Woodward's apparent psychic mind-reading ability, as he provides the players inner dialogue, but I digress.
Let us quote another professorial type, Dr. Sean Maloney, a historian working with Her Majesty's Canuckistani Forces, just back from one of several long trips to Afghanistan observing the war there first-hand, and first published here at Castle Argghhh September 7th of this year:
Good call, Doc. Unfortunately.
The estimable Greyhawk weighs in as well, channeling Winston Churchill:
Indeed.
Privately, he told Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to push his alternative strategy opposing a big troop buildup in meetings, and while Mr. Obama ultimately rejected it, he set a withdrawal timetable because, "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party."
Mind you, Woodward writes well, and I suppose he see's his job as the first draft of history, so to speak - but his methodology leaves much to be desired, as the anonymity he affords his sources enable his sources to say pretty much what they want without gainsay - that and you have to leave aside Woodward's apparent psychic mind-reading ability, as he provides the players inner dialogue, but I digress.
Let us quote another professorial type, Dr. Sean Maloney, a historian working with Her Majesty's Canuckistani Forces, just back from one of several long trips to Afghanistan observing the war there first-hand, and first published here at Castle Argghhh September 7th of this year:
I am extremely concerned that the counterinsurgency effort may be being artificially jammed into an American domestic political time-frame.
Good call, Doc. Unfortunately.
The estimable Greyhawk weighs in as well, channeling Winston Churchill:
"Dynamite in the hands of a child is not more dangerous than a strong policy weakly carried out."
Indeed.
You were probably right, because the cite in Woodward's book was set during Mr Casey's final illness, and not during visits to the Casey estate. And the cite was about publishing Mr Woodward's various Casey revelations.
Cheers
In this case, I see a very strong parallel between Obama & LBJ, in that both were focused on significant social change (The Great Society, Obamacare), but were forced to deal with an unwanted war.
I doubt either Johnson or Obama would/will ever grasp the military mentality; both are/were far too rationalistic.
It is sad to say that the strongest level of connection is that both are/were more concerned with local political success at home than military success in the field.
BHO on the other hand ...
The closest LBJ ever got to danger was when the B-17 he was in got lost in Australia and ran out of gas...