"I am not going to run from a fight when I know who I am fighting for.'
- NY Governor David Patterson
Mr. Patterson said this while David Gregory is citing his poll numbers with a 20% approval rating. In this case, it is a kind determination that deserves respect. Whether the citizens of New York feel like he is, in fact, fighting for their best interest will ultimately be decided on election day. But the notion, that Mr. Patterson knows who he is fighting for, is of critical importance.
This brings us to the subject of Afghanistan, which in terms of the program, serves as a welcome change from the constant back and forth of healthcare. Also, what this conversation shows us is that Americans can work together and listen to one another. Senator John Kyl (R-AZ), who became per snippety this week with Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) over healthcare, guested on today MTP along with Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). Before we go any farther, it is worth stating how much better off this country is to have Mr. Webb in office over Mr. George Allen (Mr. Macaca for the less informed). As a former Secretary of the Navy and a son in Iraq, Mr. Webb evaluates our military policy with a multi-level insight - both personally and professionally - that is levelheaded and realist in perspective. Today was a clear example of our politicians can wisely discuss critical matters. And the critical matter at hand is whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan.
President Clinton, today's first guest in a recorded interview, outlined it as a surge similar to the one in Iraq that proved successful. However, the President was non-committal to whether or not more troops would be beneficial. His tact, as well as the two guest Senators, is to wait for what General Petreas and General McCrystal have to report in terms of strategy. Senator Webb pointed out that we have to determine whether this will be a counter terror strategy or a counter insurgency approach. Counter insurgency, as Mr. Webb continued to explain, is nation building, a matter of which is having at least 400,000 Afghan police and soldiers trained up, but that it is also a country that has never had more than 90,000 in those combined positions in its history.
With questions of whether the Karzai Government is even legitimate, it's difficult to advocate for nation building in Afghanistan. In Iraq, we didn't do so much of nation building as we did nation rebuilding. Infrastructure was not a question until we started blowing things up. However, in Afghanistan, there is nothing, it's completely starting from scratch. So what seems to be happening now, is a bit of both - building in Afghanistan and routing out the Taliban to get to Al Qaeda. A hybrid or two-pronged approach, what ever you want to call it, is not an option. Detractors would call this unfocused and indecisive, but no matter which way is the focus, there will have to be some of the other.
If there was an instance in which military action would be beneficial to decapitate Al Qaeda, it would be here. Counter terror should be the focus: Though the Taliban is not an outside overt threat to the United States (they won't bomb us), they will harbor Al Qaeda again if they control Afghanistan. Unchecked, Al Qaeda would turn its attention to Pakistan, attempting to destabilize a nuclear power. This is a distinct possibility, which truly endangers us... and everyone else. Not to mention that they will have to time to plan another creative large-scale attack. To do this, additional troops are necessary and in effect we agree with Senator Kyl that more troops would keep the Taliban out. However, if the mission were nation building, more troops would also be required. What it boils down to is not if more troops are going, it's a matter of what they're going to do once they get there. We need to know who exactly we're fighting for.
So the level headed Republicans understand that the Democratic President isn't delaying a strategic decision, he's being careful listening to his generals before deciding. Once, he does then a new debate will begin.
Waiting for the generals...
The other important international concern discussed on today's program was Iran. This morning is was reported that Iran has conducted a long range missile test, which is troubling given that the missiles that pass the test are likely to be pointed at Israel. This column's take on this missile test is that it is a warning shot. The United States, along with France and Britain, announced and condemned this week a secret Iranian nuclear facility too big to be just for peaceful purposes.
President Clinton offered a hopeful approach saying that if Iran reverses course, think of the places that we could go together. That idea is not unrealistic because we know that ordinary Iranians and Americans have similar attitudes - citizenry to citizenry very compatible. However, the Iranian government is not going to reverse course anytime soon so Mr. Clinton's hopeful notion will have to be put on hold.
Right now, we [read: U.S., France, Britain (mainly)] are threatening the stick but haven't used it. If we are serious, we have to pick it up in the form of strict sanctions. MIlitary action is unwise in the short term and the long term. In the short term, it's a third battlefront in the region for the U.S. and in the long term we make an enemy of the Iranian citizenry. Sanctions need to be communicated that it is not the Iranian people we're acting against but their repressive government - clearing identifying who were are fighting against. There can be no flinching with Iran, decisiveness is key. And during this time, there must be hard diplomacy with China, who as Mr. Webb pointed out, remains neutral and continuing trade with Iran.
on going.....
Coming full circle, Governor. Patterson, today's last guest, made his case for the hard decisions in trying to straighten out New York State's budget. He explained himself well and is most likely doing the right thing for his constituents, but it's being swallowed like castor oil - complaints all the way down. And as we pointed out at the top, Mr. Patterson is 'blind, but not obvious' (his quote) and knows who he is fighting for. Unfortunately, he's still trying to figure out exactly who he is fighting against - which looks like everyone.
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