Army General Billy Crystal and Obama National Security Adviser Gen. James Earl Jones debate increased troop levels
There is an interesting internal O-battle going on regarding Afghanistan. And by interesting, I mean, only interesting to people who follow foreign affairs. I don’t because I am a supermodel, and I really only care about how hot I look in this season’s swimwear and whether or not that bitch Tyra Banks is getting more ink than I am.
Foreign relations is really for folks who like to read a lot of words in the NY Times during one sitting. I, on the other hand, am what you would call a “watcher,” not a “reader.” In any event, here’s ObamaNerd’s round up of the Afghan situation. In advance: You’re welcome.
Here are the toplines: We are in year eight of the war in Afghanistan. We currently have about 62,000 American troops there. The first elections were held this year and lots of fraud allegations ensued. Taliban attacks have heightened and US deaths are on the rise. President O-Dreamy ordered US and NATO Commander General Billy Crystal to provide an assessment of the situation and make recommendations for getting the war under control and to its eventual end. General Billy Crystal provided one and then took to the public (instead of up the chain of command) to make his case for more troops and press Obama for quick action. Team Obama = Not so happy and now will be working to undo that damage.
How do they begin to undo the damage? Release the team to the airwaves! Obama’s National Security Adviser, General James Earl Jones, took to the Sunday political news shows to affirm that the Obama administration is not necessarily upping our troop levels by another 40,000 troops—a specific strategy put forth by General Billy Crystal in his speech. In fact, General James Earl Jones said pretty clearly that General Billy Crystal is a washed up comic “has-been” and that General Crystal’s recommendation for more troops was “his opinion” of “what he thinks his role within that strategy is.” Oh snap. Girlfriend didn’t get her microbiotic shake this morning.
Gen. Jones also went on to say that the Taliban is not taking over Afghanistan and that there is no imminent threat to Afghanistan falling into al Qaeda’s hands. This is a complete 180 from the speech General Billy Crystal gave last week in London. In an unusally blunt and direct speech, Gen. Crystal appeared to blast the Obama administration for taking too long on the decision whether to increase troop levels, saying “this effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, nor will public support.” He then put Biden on blast saying Biden’s recommendations for Afghanistan would turn it into “Chaos-istan.”
Insubordinate! I wish the House of Reps would take more time out of the health care debate to pass a resolution blasting Gen. Billy Crystal for his insubordination.
