Sens. Lindsay Graham, John McCain, and Joe Lieberman make the case for a robust effort in Afghanistan and warn against a middling compromise on troop levels. It’s an old dodge of course—give the president a few options, set up a “middle ground,” and give the appearance of reasonableness despite overwhelming evidence that the middle ground won’t get the job done. The senators explain:
It is precisely this middle path—which the previous administration pursued for too long in Iraq—that is a recipe for quagmire and collapse of political support for the war at home. Mr. Obama was right when he said last year that “You don’t muddle through the central front on terror. . . . You don’t muddle through stamping out the Taliban.”
We have reached a seminal moment in our struggle against violent Islamist extremism, and we must commit the “decisive force” that Gen. McChrystal tells us carries the least risk of failure.
We believe that the short-term political reaction from Congress to any increase in troop numbers, no matter how small or large, will be essentially the same. The key question is whether the increase is substantial enough to have a decisive effect on the course of the war within the next 12 to 18 months. If we are to send more of our brave men and women in uniform into harm’s way, we should do so in a way that carries the greatest probability of success.
The danger of a middle-ground approach is especially acute with Obama, who has made an art form out of setting up extreme alternatives (often straw men on both sides) and rushing to claim the “reasonable” center. But here the center may not be reasonable at all.
The senators urge the president to give an address and call Gen. McChrystal “back to Washington to testify before Congress about his new strategy and the resources it will require.” That’s what President George W. Bush did when he summoned Gen. David Petraeus to support the surge—and undermine the hapless and uninformed senators (including the junior senators from New York and Illinois) who really didn’t want to give victory a chance. Once again we are faced with a question: Do we have the will to win?
The trio of senators conclude: “At last, we have the right strategy and the civilian and military leaders on the ground in Afghanistan to carry it out. This is a must-win war. And now is the time to commit the decisive military force necessary to prevail.” We’ll see whether Obama does that or takes the middle road, the path of least resistance, which asks that we risk the loss of more lives and treasure without maximizing chances for a positive outcome.
