Obama Wars
See other Obama Wars Articles
Title: Obama = Failure
Source:
FNC
URL Source: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010 ... failure-war-military-yingling/
Published: Feb 18, 2010
Author: Jon Kraushar
Post Date: 2010-02-18 10:16:26 by Badeye
Keywords: None
Views: 808
Comments: 7
Obama = Failure By Jon Kraushar - FOXNews.com President Obama’s attempts at leadership so far are a study in failure. Is it any wonder that a majority of Americans thinks he doesn't deserve a second term? print email share recommend (1) America is at war, militarily and politically. The current situation we finds ourselves in with our commander-in-chief reminds me of a May 2007 article called “A Failure In Generalship,” in which author, Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, writes “Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz noted that passion, probability and policy each play their role in war.” Let me repeat. Our nation is at war, militarily and politically—and that’s where passion, probability and policy are so important for the president. As commander-in-chief President Obama is our top general and he also serves as the political “general” of the Democratic Party. By Yingling’s standards, Obama’s attempts at leadership so far are a study in failure: a failure in generalship. Yingling, who served two tours in Iraq, another in Bosnia and a fourth in Operation Desert Storm, writes, “The greatest error the statesman can make is to commit his nation to a great conflict without mobilizing popular passions to a level commensurate with the stakes of the conflict.” More than a year into his presidency, Obama has made that error on a number of “great conflicts” involving national and economic security. The toll it is taking is reflected in a new CNN poll in which 52 percent of Americans say the president doesn’t deserve reelection in 2012. Near the end of January, a Rasmussen poll reported that only “thirty-eight percent of voters say the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror. Numbers that bleak haven’t been recorded in consecutive surveys since the middle of 2007.” A new military offensive in Afghanistan could improve that assessment, but what is especially galling the public is how the Obama administration is treating captured terrorists. In a Quinnipiac University poll, “American voters say 59-35 percent that 9/11 terrorism suspects should be tried in military courts rather than in civilian courts.” After the arrest of the “Christmas Day bomber”—who was read his Miranda rights, assigned a lawyer, and then stopped talking—fifty-eight percent of American voters in a Rasmussen poll said waterboarding and other torture techniques should be used on the suspect to get information: another rebuke to what Obama supports. A recent Gallup poll found that, “sixty percent of Americans say President Barack Obama has not spent enough time on economic problems.” But putting that in perspective, a Rasmussen poll a few weeks ago determined that “fifty-eight percent of voters also believed the government has too much influence over the economy.” A scant nine percent believed that Obama’s proposed three-year freeze on discretionary government spending “would reduce the deficit a lot.” And fifty-eight percent “opposed the president’s health care reform bill in Congress.” Yingling continues, “To prevail, generals must provide policymakers and the public with a correct estimation of strategic probabilities. The general is responsible for estimating the likelihood of success in applying force to achieve the aims of policy. The general describes both the means necessary for the successful prosecution of war and the ways in which the nation will employ those means.” Once again, so far Obama is a study in failure: a failure in generalship. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll stated that, “only 35 percent [of Americans] say they’re confident the president has the right set of goals and policies, and 54 percent believe he has accomplished ‘very little’ or ‘only some’ of his first-year office goals.” A Marist College survey of registered voters has Obama at forty-four percent job approval, the lowest of his presidency. Yingling writes that, “However much it is influenced by passion and probability, war is ultimately an instrument of policy and its conduct is the responsibility of policymakers.” This is Obama’s challenge today. He is aggressively selling his supposedly new policy prescriptions to win the wars for economic recovery and against terrorism. But most of them resemble policies he came into office peddling, and the American people are not buying them. Obama has three years left in his term and the political and military wars he is fighting will change considerably in their outcomes and scope. Will he discover new ways to build alliances, outflank enemies and achieve victories? One day it’s down for Obama when moderate Democratic Senator Evan Bayh says he won’t run for reelection, and the next day it’s up for Obama when the Taliban’s top military commander is reported captured in Pakistan. Whether the president can improve on his current record of failure will depend on three variables that we should closely watch: passion, probability and policy. Communications consultant Jon Kraushar is at www.jonkraushar.net. Fox Forum is now on Twitter. Follow us @fxnopinion.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: All (#0)
Owe-Bama is in the same place Clinton was after his first year as POTUS. The question is, can/will Obama adapt to the reality of his situation politically, the way Clinton did after the 94 mid term blow out? Its my guess he won't even consider such a thing til after this November's election cycle, same as Clinton. My gut tells me that he's much more arrogant than Clinton, and as such he'll do as Jimmy Carter did and continue down his ideological path. And that means a one term failed Presidency.
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
Is this Liberty's Flame or fauxnews.com?
The fact I was an RM2 escapes you obviously, and what that implies. Badeye posted on 2007-01-30 16:42:29 ET Reply Trace actually his poll numbers have been remarkably similar to Reagan's first year. Do you consider Reagan to have been a failure?
Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
Owe-Bama is in the same place Clinton was after his first year as POTUS. actually his poll numbers have been remarkably similar to Reagan's first year. Do you consider Reagan to have been a failure? Didn't mention poll numbers. I said Owe-Bama is in the same place Clinton is, the context being politically. The question is now can he pivot politically, as Clinton eventually did after the 1994 mid term asskicking. We'll know by this time next year. Its pretty clear Owe-Bama is ideology based, as opposed to Clinton's political pragmatism. Lets watch and see if your messiah's ego and arrogance triumphs over political necessity and logic.
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
That would be the same Bill Clinton who got reelected and who left office with a 60% approval rating. If that's where Obama ends-up, I don't think he'll complain very much. IMHO what Obama needs to do to turn things around is stop trying to play nice with Republicans and instead take them on. Maybe you missed it, but his poll numbers turned around when he became more combative a few weeks ago, then they fell again when he went back to this "bi-partisianship" crap. The Republicans have no interest in doing anything other than blocking everything he does, even the things they previously supported. All he's doing by continuing to reach out to Republicans is pissing off his base. If he excites his base, he wins an easy reelection.
Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
Emmm, he's done that since the Inauguration, and his poll numbers accurately reflect the affectiveness of that strategy. His base didn't get him elected. Independents did. He's lost them in vast numbers, every poll from CNN to Rasmussen shows it clearly. If he continues on this course, the unemployment numbers alone doom his reelection chances. Clinton never received a majority of votes cast in either the 92 or 96 election cycles. He won by pivoting in the aftermath of the 94 blowout of his party. The question is can Owe-Bama overcome his ego and arrogance and do the same, and have a chance at being reelected? If he follows your advice, he's toast. The same people that bought wishfully into the wisps of smoke called 'hope and change' will turn on him with a vengence. Its amusing you cite Clinton, but then suggest Owe-bama do the exact opposite that produced the results you are citing here.
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
Reading that "analysis" I'm reminded that you stated that McCain blew his chance at the 2008 nomination because of South Carolina 2000. That sums you up perfectly.
The fact I was an RM2 escapes you obviously, and what that implies. Badeye posted on 2007-01-30 16:42:29 ET Reply Trace Whether the president can improve on his current record of failure will depend on three variables that we should closely watch: passion, probability and policy.
#2. To: Badeye, Bartcoprules, go65 (#0)
(Edited)
#3. To: Badeye (#1)
Owe-Bama is in the same place Clinton was after his first year as POTUS.
#4. To: go65 (#3)
#5. To: Badeye (#4)
Didn't mention poll numbers. I said Owe-Bama is in the same place Clinton is, the context being politically.
The question is now can he pivot politically, as Clinton eventually did after the 1994 mid term asskicking.
#6. To: go65 (#5)
IMHO what Obama needs to do to turn things around is stop trying to play nice with Republicans and instead take them on.
#7. To: Badeye (#6)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]