President Obama has been deliberating for months over his Afghanistan strategy. But when it came time to explain that decision last week, he was cool and analytical — and seemed almost serene about a policy that he knows will be attacked from both sides of the aisle.
“I am painfully clear that this is politically unpopular,” Obama told a small group of columnists. “Not only is this not popular, but it’s least popular in my own party. But that’s not how I make decisions.”
Obama spoke during a lunch in the White House library. His presentation of the details of the new strategy was focused and precise. He didn’t talk about victory, and he didn’t raise his voice. He did not attempt to convey the blood and tears of the battlefield, or the punishing loneliness of command. Even in this most intense and consequential decision of his presidency, he remains “no drama Obama.”
He has made what I think is the right decision: The only viable “exit strategy” from Afghanistan is one that starts with a bang — by adding 30,000 more U.S. troops to secure the major population centers, so that control can be transferred to the Afghan army and police. This transfer process, starting in July 2011, is the heart of his strategy.
Military commanders appear comfortable with Obama’s decision, although they wish it hadn’t taken so long. But politically, it’s an Afghanistan strategy with something to make everyone unhappy: Democrats will be angry that the president is escalating a costly war at a time when the struggling economy should be his top priority. Republicans will protest that by setting a short, 18-month deadline to begin withdrawing those forces, he’s signaling the Taliban that they can win if they just are patient.
Obama insisted Tuesday that “given the circumstances, this is the best option available to us.” At another point, he conceded: “None of this is easy. I mean, we are choosing from a menu of options that are less than ideal.”
