At least two columnists argue today that President Obama needs to make a decision on troops for Afghanistan and move ahead with it. David Broder, in Enough Afghan Debate, says the internal discussion has been stretched "to the breaking point" and it's time to bring it to an end. (Broder favors the McChrystal argument for more troops.) Jackson Diehl, in "Obama's Reluctant Choice", suggests that Obama has to not just make a decision, but to demonstrate he believes the war in Afghanistan is really worth fighting. Both writers accuse the President of "dithering," a word that's being used a lot elsewhere, too.
I agree with both of them, and last month pointed out the need to make the jump from lawyerly deliberation to active decision-making soon. It hasn't happened. What are the consequences? Broder suggests that our commanders need to know, troop deployments need to begin, our allies must have certainty about U.S. intentions...all very true, but I think Diehl gets a little closer to the crux in saying that a couple more weeks won't have a great impact on the course of the war. The real impact of the lengthy review and constant raising of new questions to be answered is on Obama's credibility as a decision-maker and on that front, the damage unfortunately is already done, and whatever decision comes now will already be too late to repair it.
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