WhatFinger


As predicted.

President who 'ended two wars' halts plan to withdraw from Afghanistan



Barack Obama is the President who "ended two wars." For years, that's been the narrative among the mainstream press and the members of the Democrat party. Never mind the fact that neither of the wars referenced ever really ended. Ignore the rise of ISIS thanks to the power vacuum Obama created, and forget the fact that he started a third - illegal - war in Libya. The Democrats had a narrative to sell, so Obama ended two wars. End of story.
....At least until today. Today we're learning that the war in Afghanistan isn't ending, the U.S. won't adhere to Obama's ill-advised "pull out date," and thousands of troops will stay in-country long after the President's second term expires. As Fox reports:
President Barack Obama will keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017, according to senior administration officials, casting aside his promise to end the war on his watch and instead ensuring he hands the conflict off to his successor. Obama had originally planned to pull out all but a small, embassy-based U.S. military presence by the end of next year, a timeline coinciding with the final weeks of his presidency. But military leaders argued for months that the Afghans needed additional assistance and support from the U.S. to beat back a resurgent Taliban and hold onto gains made over the last 14 years of American bloodshed and billions of dollars in aid. If we had a President who was interested in actual victory, this would be the right move. Unfortunately, we're saddled with a "leader" who has proven himself completely averse to the very concept of a victorious United States. He's a man who kicks the can, but never crushes it.

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The president was to announce the changes Thursday morning from the White House. Officials said he would outline plans to maintain the current force of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of next year, then draw down to 5,500 troops in 2017, at a pace still to be determined by commanders. The officials previewed the decisions on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly ahead of the president.
It's possible that this decision was spurred on by the unravelling situation in Syria, or perhaps it's simply a strategic move related to our general non-success in Afghanistan. Whatever the reason is, it was easily predictable. Virtually every conservative on Earth, including those of us who write here, argued that announcing a withdrawal date was a terrible idea. At best, it gave our enemies a date to which they could aspire. All they had to do was hold out until we left, and they could call it a win. At worst, it was an unachievable goal - one that was never realistic - which we all knew would be revised at a later date. It created a talking point for the anti-war left, but it also created the inevitable moment of failure at which we've now arrived. Obama hasn't "ended two wars." He's altered and prolonged them, indefinitely, as he wastes blood and treasure with no "unseemly victories" in sight.


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