An article by James Corum in a Telegraph blog has caught my attention:
Barack Obama's inner circle really is clueless about the military
As epitomized in the movie Jerry Maguire, "You had me at hello." Or in this particular case, at the title.
In fact, the only way I could be happier about that headline is if it were printed on bumper stickers and billboards all across the land.
The beginning of the article is mostly fluff, but when we get down towards the end, it gets better.
The comments themselves, however, are all very plausible. That Obama and his inner Chicago circle are clueless about the military is no secret. First of all, McChrystal confirmed that Obama shows a complete lack of interest in military issues and was unprepared to talk in a substantive manner with the general who is leading America’s major war. This is a scary revelation.
In fairness, Barack Obama has never shown an ability to "talk in a substantive manner" whenever he's been wrested from his trusty TelePrompTer. And to say that it's not a secret that a hard-left idealogue from one of our country's vast Ivy League idiocracies is "clueless about the military" is an understatement of massively epic proportions.
But wait, there's more!
Other comments reveal the personality conflicts and backbiting that is crippling the Obama administration’s ability to manage a major war. Holbrooke, the senior diplomat for the region, was described as being fearful for his job and therefore making snap decisions and demanding immediate progress – not a sound course in a counterinsurgency campaign. This matches what other people who have worked with him have told me.
One slight disagreement: It's neither the personality conflicts nor the backbiting that's crippling this Administration's "ability" to manage a major war—it's the fact that the Administration is packed top to bottom with clueless idiots.
It's evident that Barack Obama thinks of himself as the answer to every problem, and that he's surrounded himself by the same types of self-centered, highly-educated dolts as himself.
But there's a vast difference between the skillset required to lecture for an hour to a bunch of mindless zombies in a classroom, and the one required to manage a multi-country conflict—and it's pretty clear that President Smarty Pants isn't interested in hearing any opinions that didn't originate in his little lecture circuit of friends.
(Incidentally, the world had plenty of ill to say about George W. Bush's intelligence, but at least he was smart enough to surround himself with people from outside of his little niche circle when it was needed. Which is more than I can say for the current Placeholder-in-Chief.)
Ambassador Eikenberry, a former general, is reportedly angry that he was not made the proconsul for Afghanistan and has worked to undermine McChrystal. According to McChrystal, Eikenberry gave him one view and Obama a completely different one concerning his views on the Kharzai regime. Apparently, this was a way for Eikenberry to give himself political cover if things go wrong. Clever politics – but it loses wars.
To say the least.
James, I agree with your article wholeheartedly, but you've definitely earned your award:
The "mindless zombies" are forced to sit in the classroom for an hour and listen to the lecture. heh