Washington (CNN) - It's not often the Republican National Committee holds a conference call with reporters during which President Barack Obama is largely praised.
But amid news the president has decided to beef up U.S. forces in Afghanistan by at least 30,000 within the next six months, the RNC deployed conservative foreign policy expert Dan Senor to offer accolades of the plan.
"I have been critical of the process over the last 90-some days through which the president has arrived at his decision, but it sounds to me, based on what we know, that it is a very good decision and I applaud him," said Senor, an adjunct senior fellow at the non partisan Council on Foreign Relations and a former advisor to the U.S. led coalition in Iraq.
"If you would have said to me that a year into this president's administration he would have doubled our troop presence in Afghanistan…plus not reduce our troops meaningfully in Iraq, and fire Gen. [David] McKiernan and replace him with Gen. [Stanley] McChrystal…I would have had a hard time believing it, I'm pleasantly surprised," Senor added.
Senor did say critical questions still need to be answered, including the role of NATO-led forces and the timeline of troop deployment, but he ultimately concluded, "I'm encouraged."
Of course, encouragement from Republicans and conservative foreign policy experts might not be what the president needs as he tries to convince members of his own party to support the plan, many of whom are wary of a further commitment.
A string of powerful Democrats have recently expressed doubts about a troop buildup, including Sen. Carl Levin, the chairmen of the Armed Services Committee, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
From CNN Politics
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Has anyone else noticed that Obama's short term goals, be it Health Care, the Wars, etc, all have a target date of just after re-election?
Of course the war mongering conservatives are going to support this upscale in troops. That just means more money for their private contractors.
I am trying not to read the media reports of Obama's speech to be given later today.
I want to hear what Obama has to say.
If the media is going to get advance notice of what the speech will entail, why bother to watch Obama give the speech??
I always watch on C-Span anyway to avoid all the blab from the commentators.
Hey, whatever happened to all that Iraqi oil revenue that was supposed to go toward funding the war? It must be hiding out in a cave somewhere with meaningful healthcare reform and any type of financial reform. And we're not very good at finding things that are hidden in caves. Have a nice day!
PRAISE from the Party of NO?
Did anyone else feel the earth just shift on it's axis?
The RNC praises an action of President Obama??
Ok, now I am an official believer that the world will end 12/21/2012 when the Mayan calendar ends, as that is the ONLY way the RNC would chance a second term for President Obama!
As much as I would prefer that we do not build up troop levels, I do understand that Afghanistan is where we should have been all along, instead of being side-tracked to invade Iraq and depose Hussein so the major oil companies could get in there and take a piece of that oil pie!
I keep hoping he's just having a moment. But sadly, it looks like Obama will continue the wars...
Of course the republicans would praise this. it means millions more for their war mongering buddies that they can get more blood money to run for office on. just like the big insurance companys give them money to oppose the health care reform. with the republican party it is never what can help the american people. it is all ways about the party.
Point proven, the GOP conservative love WAR, this is the only time President Obama will get support from them.....ITS WAR TIME!!!!
"Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy!!!!"
George G. M. James
He ran on winning the war in Afghanistan and ening the war in Iraq on a timely basis. I still think that he will need about sixty thousand more soldiers to get the job done,once and for all. This is a war that America cannot afford to loose because the Taliban is very "DANGEROUS".
The GOP is in support of our president for National Security reasons. Nothing else. Unfortunately Afghanistan is filled with individuals who want nothing more than to hurt our country. They must be stopped and brought to justice. That is why our troops are being sent over there.
Our generals of our fine armed forces are saying this must be done. Our president is listening to them since they know what it takes.
No one wants war. NO ONE. Unfortunately troops do need to be sent in order to stop the taliban.
GOP will support common sense decisions and be the party of NO when appropriate, which is quite often under the tax and spend Obama administration.
He ran on winning the war in Afghanistan and ending the war in Iraq on a timely basis. I still think that he will need about sixty thousand more soldiers to get the job done,once and for all. This is a war that America cannot afford to loose because the Taliban is very "DANGEROUS".
Don't be so surprised. Republicans aren't opposed to Obama because he's Obama. It's the policies, stupid!
Uh-Oh! If THEY like it, maybe it is not the best decision? I wonder if
"The Dick" will praise him too? If he does, the President might want to reconsider.
I`m sure the Cons. support him. (Few of them ever served in the military.) They just are stockholders in the arms mfg. industry. WWJD ?
"Dutch/Bad Newz, VA" said "Of course the war mongering conservatives are going to support this upscale in troops. That just means more money for their private contractors." So, by your logic FDR was a war mongerer who wanted to build the military/industrial complex for profit instead of defending us after Pearl Harbor. You sir, are a fool.
Of course it would!
Spend into Oblivian for U.S. citizen's Healthcare/other needs=Bad to them.
Spend us into Oblivian for warmongering, profiteering capitalists=Good to them!
One can sure tell by folks' Actions just where their souls are coming from! We all do not want to go down with you if that is alright, you Armageddon freaks – Suiciders!
So Barry finally got something right. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Funny how during the primary he was planning a track meet to see who cold get out the fastest.
The right wingers only praise him because he just elected a Republican in 2012.
Oops. Pleasing the conservatives. I know that it just about has to drive him crazy to do this, and this is the reason, yes politics, that it has taken him so long to make this decision. I will give him credit. He made the ending date right AFTER the next election. So, he thinks he has thrown his own party a bone.
Problem is, this move will get him defeated in the next election. Too many people on both sides are plain tired of this political war to nowhere. You don't get to Al Q.'s heart through Afgan's belly. Big mistake by BHO. Shoulda brought em home if he wanted to win the next one.
General McCrystal, appointed by Obama, asked for 60,000 troops. Obama will be sending 50% less than what General McCrystal requested. Obama's other 50% will be apologies to the Taliban.
How you like this Liberals? What is he doing in Iraq that is different than what Bush did? Nothing. What is he proposing in Afghanistan that is different from what Bush tried to propose but was shot down by the left (mainly Kerry)? Nothing.
He is, once again doing the opposite of what he said he would on the campaign trail.
The only difference is he is going to blame the Bush Admin tonight for not putting in the correct number of troops to begin with even though Bush tried and the left opposed.
He has constantly lied to his base and in the meantime is trying for a massive government takeover of the economy while all his actions on economics have done nothing but prolong the recession, devalue the dollar, and raise unemployment.
Nice Change.
While I (and many Democrats) don't agree with his decision, you have to remember that Obama is President of the United States not just leader of his party. I know the previous administration got us into this mess, but to cut & run now would be a disaster to Obama and the Democrats, and possibly damage the slowly bebuilding esteem the U.S. is cultivating in the world.
finally obummer made a decision to support our troops on the ground. took him long enough...
Hahaha...don't be fooled...this is still political. The GOP's calculus was as follows: "everyone hates us, so if we support this, it will be bad for Obama."
The Afghan War was lost back in spring of 2003, no need to mention that this is when the Iraq War started. Hurrying additional troops there will not change much of the 6 years delay of getting it right the 1st time. Bush/Cheney made Afghan worse than Vietnam. Moreover, US troops are really fighting “guns-for-hire” who have no ideology or clue as to what they are fighting for except for the money they get. You want to end the war? Demand that Congress to introduce a “war-tax” to fund for these foreign adventures, that’s a foolproof way to end all wars.
Good call Obama! I will give him credit for making the right choice. It is interesting that it took 90 days for him to figure this out so now the miltary has only six months to make it happen. Pelosi and the dems were against the surge in Iraq as well. It is in their political interests for America to lose these wars and that is what they trully want.
I think they are glad Obama has stopped posing for pictures and made a presidential decision. Now get rid of the unconstitutional health care bill and stop printing $$$$.
Of course it draws praise from the right. They drafted it. They are the party of war and perpetuating the war/weapons industry. War is like crack to the right wing demagogue. Obama's support of it will be his undoing as witnessed by continuing slippage in polls. Any U.S. A. support of the narco warlord backed government of Karzai is wrong, it's evil and doomed to fail. Don't worry, Karzi can't fix anything. He'll just hang on as long as possible and then split away to a haven in exile with his crates of Euro dollars.
This decision to add more troops to Afganistan as the Generals have asked for just may be what the President needs to cement a victory there and for him in 2012. To do the right thing in this case will cause a backlash from his left but I'm sure he now knows, as Bush knew, the left in this country is completely wrong about security issues. Between the debacle of the Health care Bills and the horrible economy which will threaten the House majority of the Dems, failure to act decisively in Afganistan will doom him in 2012 no matter how much the Media supports him.
I have 2 wonderful brave Sons who are Army Soldiers, who have been to Iraq not once but 3 times; I support my Soldier 100%; I do not support what is about to happen in Afghanistan!
If the Congress decides to add a tax to fund this war!
I HAVE LIKE OTHER PARENTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY, HAVE PAID OUR TAXES IN FULL!
Go find your money somewhere else. Bring our Soldiers home, guard our boards, rebuild the core of our country and let the world be its own police!
GOP approval!
One more reason why this is a stupid decision by President Obama. Unfortunately, we seem destined to re-live Vietnam. I hated it the first time.
I wish we had this kind of commitment to helping the people in this country.
Independent...the reason for all these "leaks" is that WE are conditioned to instant everything...WE are no longer capable of patience, or of digesting more than 10mb of information at a time...WE need it spoon-fed, & predigested, so that WE don't miss our favorite shows tonight during the speech...
Only time GOP will agree with Obama when there is people to kill for money or make money for big oil companies..
But Rush is still complaining about the process and hasn't said a positive word about the troop increase so expect these Republicans to issue a statement saying they were misquoted and reaffirming their allegiance to their leader Rush.
My fellow democrats please understand, without security, even the health care reform we are fighting for, will not benefit us! We need to support the President on his endeavours.
OH NO!!! The mean ole conservatives are glad our Juvinile president has listened to others who have a brain and is doing the right thing by sending in additional troops......maybe one day the love fest left-wing
X-hippies, can stick their liberal tongues out at this nations enemies as they are taking over their homes.
Sheesh, if folks like Senor are agreeing with Obama, you can pretty much bet it's a bad decision.
It's all about funnelling money to the war profiteers, it's never been about safety or security, just money. Now Obama's got another mess to clean up after the bush admin.
Finish it and get out.
People forget if democrats would have taken care of this the major deployments would have never happened.
Psssst, hey you, Taliban, go hide cause we are sending in more troops but we will all be gone just in time for the elections and you can take the country back over. Dont tell anyone that you heard it from me. Hussssssh he he he
signed, B. Odumbo
PS: Please vote for me, I will make it count, Thanks(Im so smart)
Welcome to George W. Bush's world, Obama.
Now YOU know how it feels to make a difficult decision that the public may not like.
Why is it that the country's all around Afghanistan and even Europe don't really care about fighting these people. But we on the other side of the planet are so scared of them?
The terrorist learned how to cross the monkey bars with an AK strapped to them, in Afghanistan; they learned how to fly and how to pass security, in the UNITED STATES.
This war is all about making money for the defense contractor by using the tax payers money. period!
It's not Obamas plan. It's general McCrystall's plan and it took Obama three longs months to make all his political calculations to finally do the right thing. No credit for Obama here!
"Has anyone else noticed that Obama's short term goals, be it Health Care, the Wars, etc, all have a target date of just after re-election?"
Yep, it's the only way to get Congress to do anything – grab them by the throat at election time. Otherwise, they'll just sit on their hands and do nothing. Obama learned that sadly this year with Health Care.
Who really cares what this yahoo has to say?
He is hardly in the same league as the president.
He doesn't have the responsibilities of the president
He doesn't have the information the president has.
He wasn't elected to the office of the President of the United States
I've tired of media trotting out a "counterpoint" person all the time. When it comes to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES he's the man.
God is with you Presdient Obama, and so am I!
"Has anyone else noticed that Obama's short term goals, be it Health Care, the Wars, etc, all have a target date of just after re-election?"
Oh, get a life!!! The only ones who have "noticed" that are you and all of your conspiracy-theory-birther-bagger-right-wing-nutjob TWINS!
By the way, the RNC can say all of the "nice" things they want about the POTUS and his decision . . . . who cares what they think, anyway??!! It's directly BECAUSE of the Bush/Cheney Buffoons and their Republican Regime that we are STILL in this mess in Afghanistan! The GOP has ZERO credibility when it comes to this subject! Or actually ANY subject.
I do not care what these conservatives think or say. They are willing to send other Americans to fight and die while they sit in the comfort of their homes.
We don't have the military personal to fight these wars and keep enough soldiers at home to protect the country.
If we are to be the military power that these people want be then we need a universal draft with no deferments, period. Everybody serves period, the healthy, the blind, and the lame no deferments.
The blind and the lame work in our sociaty so they can work in the military as well.
Why wouldn't the party of war be ecstatic over the thought of more of our troops being put in harm's way? That has been their M.O. since 2002.
Maybe Obama will have to give back his Nobel prize because of this increase in troops. Oh wait, he already pawned it off for chump change.
Praise?
I want to see the moron teabaggers out there protesting the taxes that it is going to cost all of us to continue to support this war. Conservatives are complete hypocrites.
Just the fact that the neo-cons support thismove should tell Obama he's making a big mistake.
Why not, they get their natural gas pipeline built. Everybody wins. Except for all the dead people piling up. Have a nice day!
It figures. They support sending more young kids over there to kill and be killed, while they cannot find it in their consciences to support funding for education, or, heaven forbid, health care for the American people, let alone funds for the wounded and mentally ill troops if they return home. They can go live under bridges and it's fine with conservatives. Republicans, the self-called religious conservatives, are a bunch of idiots. Let's save every pregnancy, but once born, you are on your own!
Only progressive selfishness could cause one to turn a blind eye and run from the truely oppressed people of this world..
Well, if the Republican National Committee are giving Obama praise then that's a red flag. Republican's have been pretty much wrong on everything over the last 10 years. What I figure is that Obama has 1 one year in Afghanistan before the nation turns against the war full swing. Regardless of Cheney's doom cries. Cheney tuned into a monster while he was fighting monsters. I don't think Obama will do the same. That said... 1 more year.. and he needs to get bin Laden in that time. If he does that then he will earn much respect... if he fails at it and allows a deadly costly war to drag on... and on.. it will take down his legacy beyond repair.
It would seem to me the only reason Republicans would be against an escalation is if they believe it will result in the end of our dumping our blood and treasure on Afghanistan's soil coming sooner. Republicans want the wealth of America drained into weapons manufacturers and Halliburton-type "nation builders". To see what we, as Americans, have worked so hard for kept in the hands of Americans makes their stomachs turn. Yes, they do wish for more casualties (because they belong to an Anti-Christian death cult, while claiming to be Christians), but if it was truly going to end the war sooner, they would be against it. Peace makes Republicans sick, and a lack of a foreign war to waste ourselves on is something, in their eyes, that only a Democrat would want to see.
We asked George Bush to spend $1 Trillion on credit for, we are now asking Obama to charge another $100 billion a year on credit (hopefully the Chinese will loan us the money). Health care will be a bargain by comparison, but why are we paying as we go on health care and not just charging that too?
We want the government to spend more money as long as they don't ask us to pay for anything.
It is the American people, not the government, that is the problem. Let's admit it.
How many times tonight will he explicitly or implicitly blame the current situation on Bush? He's had well over a year to develop a strategy for Afghanistan, and he made a point of saying how important it was during his campaign.
So one of the most important things on his own personal agenda takes him over a year to review?
That is pretty much the definition of dithering.
Obama's plan is to send an additional 30,000 troops into Afghanistan in the next six month, so that we are up to speed by June 2010. His goal is to be out of Afghanistan by July 2011. Since we will have to pull out about 150,000 troops plus all the equipment, and it takes much longer to pull out than it does to send them in, we have well under 6 months to conclude the fight.
Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
I prefer Cherry, what's your favorite flavor?
Independent Lilarose, Bandon, Oregon
If the media is going to get advance notice of what the speech will entail, why bother to watch Obama give the speech??
Why bother in any case?
Unwelcome praise indeed...GOP support is shallow. Guess who will be the first to throw stones if the Afghanistan war goes poorly.
Three years, huh.......Obama doesn't have the stomach to win in three years. The only way the Taliban will quit in three years is if we burn their villages, kill their wives, burn their children and kill them without mercy.
War is hell, Mr. Obama...just ask Harry Truman..the last American President to win a war...Wars are won by killing your enemies wives and daughters...