“Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. That’s why Americans have never lost a war and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.” – Gen. George S. Patton, May 31, 1944.
Gen. George S. Patton (dayiii.tripod.com)
Oh my, if General Patton were alive today, he wouldn’t recognize today’s America. Victory eluded us in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. This week President Obama told a gathering of Marines in Hawaii that the war in Afghanistan will come to a “responsible end.”
A “responsible end?” What is that? Whatever happened to winning?
In 2007 it was presidential candidate Obama who referred to the Afghan war as the “good war.” “We did not finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We will wage the war that has to be won.”
President Obama told a Marine gathering in Hawaii that he was bringing the Afghanistan war to “a responsible end.” (abc30.com)
Since becoming president, the words, won, win, winning, victory and victorious never seem to get onto the teleprompter. Instead, sentence bites like “finishing the fight,” “we will finish the job,” “getting the job done,” and “time to prevail” appear.
It was candidate Obama who spoke of the need for a stronger and sustained partnership between Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO, saying “We cannot tolerate a terrorist sanctuary, and as president, I won’t.”
Our telegraphed pullout, however, has emboldened a rag tag Taliban and the threat from insurgents has worsened with suicide bombers and gunmen carrying out violent attacks, not out in the hinterlands, but right in Kabul.
The limited number of troops scheduled to stay in Afghanistan will barely be able to defend themselves, let alone make a difference against the Taliban.
As “Mr. Conservative” Donald R. May so aptly remarked this week, “This war is not over just because Obama pretends the war is over.”
If only the president would call for an early “responsible end” to his presidency.
“Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.” – Ernest Hemmingway
