Afghanistan Illuminates Obama's Complete Lack of Leadership; Updated

The difference in leadership quality between President Obama and Governor Palin over Afghanistan couldn't be more clear. Obama believes he knows better than his own hand-picked expert, General McChrystal. McChrystal has requested an additional 40,000 troops without which the U.S. will fail in Afghanistan. General McChrystal's superior, General David Petraeus, endorses McChrystal's strategy in Afghanistan.

Obama's amateurish handling of Afghanistan should come as no surprise. This is what happens when we elect a man with zero executive experience to the highest office in the land. He has never run a Kool-Aid stand, much less a business or any level of government. Executives, including presidents, are paid to make decisions. Not rashly, but quickly and decisively when the circumstances call for it. With U.S. troops dying at an increasing rate and roughly 68,000 troops in harm's way, it's fair to conclude that this is one of those circumstances.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking for the Obama Administration, recently said Obama's decision on the troop request will come in a few weeks. Obama has been president for nine months and he still needs a few weeks to decide what he wants to do Afghanistan? This is not what is meant by presidential leadership. Rick Moran, in a post in today's American Thinker, captured why we should not be surprised by Obama's inability to lead and make a decision:

This is how a community organizer "leads:"

[...]

Wishy washy leaders always split the difference. It's a way to avoid making a decision while offending no one and satisfying nobody. And it is apparent that the president has already rejected the best advice of his commanding general on the ground in Afghanistan and, if there is a troop increase, it will be for show only, and not materially affect the security situation.

This is exactly the kind of "decision making" one would expect from a community organizer. I'm surprised they didn't build a campfire in the Oval Office and Obama had everyone hold hands and sing "Kumbaya."

[...]

If ever a situation cried out for crisp, decisive leadership by a commander in chief, this is it. We are not getting that. We are not getting anything close. We are between a rock and a hard place in Afghanistan, the commanding general has asked for help, the country is unsure, the Congress is split, his own advisors are wavering - and the president of the United States wants to split the difference to make everyone happy?

Not only do good leaders have the ability to make decisions, but they also know when to delegate decision making authority to their subordinates. Obama, due to his limitless (and unwarranted) sense of self-importance, believes himself to be the smartest person in the room and thus must micromanage everything. Jimmy Carter also had this narcissistic quality and we all know how that worked out.

Governor Palin, on the other hand, has years of executive experience in and out of government, where making decisions on a daily basis is a requirement. She has shown a knack for surrounding herself with quality staff and having the confidence in their abilities to allow them to make decisions. If she were president, there is no doubt that she would follow the expert advice of General McChrystal. In yesterday's Facebook Note, she clearly indicated what her approach would be to General McChrystal's request:

Now General McChrystal is asking for additional troops to implement the strategy announced by President Obama in March. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers in harm's way in Afghanistan right now. We owe it to all those brave Americans serving in uniform to give them the tools they need to complete their mission.

She also called on President Obama to "man up" and do the job he was elected to do:

Our allies and our adversaries are watching to see if we have the staying power to protect our interests in Afghanistan. I recently joined a group of Americans in urging President Obama to devote the resources necessary in Afghanistan and pledged to support him if he made the right decision. Now is not the time for cold feet, second thoughts, or indecision -- it is the time to act as commander-in-chief and approve the troops so clearly needed in Afghanistan.

Once again, Governor Palin is proving that she has leadership qualities far beyond those of our elected president.

Update by Mel: (h/t jimr3) According to the New York Times, the Obamas requested that this painting by Ed Ruscha be displayed in the White House:


Can't a man just eat his waffle?

Update II by Doug: Roger Kimball, at PajamasMedia.com, has another take on Obama's waffling indecision with respect to Afghanistan. An excerpt follows:

Over at The Weekly Standard blog, Bill Kristol has a short but deadly post on Obama’s dithering non-policy about the war in Afghanistan. Bill reports that at a recent meeting with Congressional leaders, Obama gravely pointed out that every thousand troops sent to Afghanistan would cost about a billion dollars a year. A billion dollars a year! Call Senator Dirksen. Would they, Obama is said to have queried the Congressmen, would they really be prepared to support $40 or $50 billion in additional spending?

Rich, what? Or rather, poor. I mean, here’s the $12 trillion President fretting — that is, pretending to fret — over $40 or $50 billion. That’s school lunch money for the Democrats.

Of course, the issue isn’t money. It’s morality. That’s to say, it’s about what really matters to Obama. He’s willing to demand $800 billion now, today, to shore up his support among the auto unions and other Democratic interest groups. But the war of terror? He can’t even bring himself to pronounce the phrase. Indeed, one of the first things he did upon assuming office was to rebaptize the war on terror “overseas contingency operations.” (No, I am not making that up.)

Read the rest here. This is unconscionable. This is a president who has already wasted or plans to waste untold trillions of dollars on bailouts, nationalized health care, cap and tax, and a stimulus plan that didn’t stimulate anything. Now, when government spending is necessary to prevent a catastrophe in Afghanistan, he’s counting pennies? The only explanation is that he doesn’t care a bit about our troops or their mission. His only concern is that supporting them may harm his chances for his administration to take over even more of the U.S. economy.