Exhausted

Eleven years.  Eleven years going on twelve we've been at war.  Surprised?  But that's probably a misstatement.  It's not we.  It's the military.  The diplomatic corps.  The CIA, DEA, and all those who have supported the effort.  But not the population as a whole.  The vast majority have gone about their daily lives.  Climbing the ladder...kids to school...vacations...paying bills...living life.  But not that small number who have actually answered the call.  They've gone to the other side of the world to fight..and die for the rest of us.  And that's okay.  It's an all volunteer force.  They knew what they were getting into.  And what they were getting into was like nothing we've experienced before.  Asymmetric warfare.  Warfare among non-combatants.   Fanatics straight out of the seventh century who are willing, even eager, to blow themselves up to kill as many of us that they can.  It's been a tough fight that, no matter what we do, will continue.  We don't know when and we don't know how, but it will continue.  But now we are coming home.

We all know that we began the effort as retaliation for the Sep 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.  I could go through all the details but we all also remember the words and images.  And they are enough.  Afghanistan, Iraq, back to Afghanistan, surges, Patriot Act, IEDs, mind-numbing heat, Abu Gharib, WMD, purple fingers, Guantanamo, renditions, coalitions, Shiites, Halliburton, Sunnis, Kurds, Black Water, SpecOps, drones, Wounded Warriors, corruption, Green Zone, palaces, Taliban, etc, etc, etc.  It just goes on and on and on.  But its time to come home.

Or at least that's what our Commander in Chief says.  Commander in Chief.  That is an interesting title for Obama.  I'm confident that there hasn't been a less qualified Commander in Chief in our history.  But it is what it is.  Comes with the office.  But if you're woefully ill-equipped to do something, normally you need education, or mentoring, or training, or...something.  But none of that is available, or at least he doesn't seem to have benefited from any of that.  It's the classic case of OJT...on the job training.  But it takes time.  Think of Lincoln.  He didn't get comfortable with his Generals until probably about 1862.  At first it was a disaster.  Or it takes mentoring.  Think of FDR and General Marshall.  Marshall clearly was the architect and leader of the military, especially the Army, in WWII.  But Obama doesn't have experience or mentoring.  He's too busy reworking health care, fighting with Republicans, pitting us against each other, or playing golf.

National Security isn't a priority.  Simple as that.  We are disengaging...pulling back...looking for a peace dividend.  Let someone else lead.  Brits?  French?  Germans?  I think not.  More likely Chinese, Iranians, and Russians.  And of course Al Queda and other fanatics.  But we need to pay massive social bills.  So let's turn inward.  Think 1947.  Or 1974.  Or 1992.  But things go in cycles.  Trust me that the bad guys aren't slinking back to their caves.  If we go the way it looks like we're going, we won't be ready.  And it will be painful.  Don't know when.  Don't know how.  But it will come.

So, it seems to me, he's following his instincts rather than any plan.  Get out.  Cut and run.  He said we would leave and now we are.  And earlier than we said.  But as the title of this post indicates, I think we're exhausted.  The people fulfilling the commitment are exhausted and the population just doesn't want to hear it anymore.

The thing is, there are ways to do this.  Announcing you're leaving three years before you leave was mistake one.  But now I fear we're going to do the same thing in Afghanistan that we're doing in Iraq.  Draw way down in a manner that seems, well...willy-nilly.  Don't leave any credible force.  Leave a vacuum that Iran can fill.  Same thing in Afghanistan.  The good guys there (and there are some good guys) need our help.  We had a plan.  That plan is now gone.  Too bad.  We're going home.  CDR Salamander has a really good reaction and analysis of what's going on.  I think he is spot on...

"If this is the level of commitment that the Commander in Chief has in AFG ... then we are way past any measure of morality in keeping people in harm's way."

Most Presidents at some point, or maybe all the time depending on the person (Bubba), think about their legacy.  Obama is no different.  I'm sure his view is that part of his legacy will be that he got us out of Afghanistan.  Again, I agree with the CDR...

This is ALL on President Obama's head. He came in to office with a OPLAN that at least had a chance through Shape-Clear-Hold-Build and a conditions based path to some type of acceptable resolution. Now? Nothing. This eventual defeat is all of his making.

Like I said...things go in cycles.  But we are exhausted and we have bills to pay.  So be it.  Just don't be surprised...