It's not Vietnam, but it is Obama's war now

6/12/2009

President Barack Obama announced his decision Tuesday night to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

"I have determined that it is in our vital national interest," he said.
The key word in that statement is "I."

Obama might have inherited this war, which began under the Bush administration, but it is his war now. How it started and who started it no longer factor into the equation. Obama no longer can duck questions, deflect criticism or simply say it wasn't his decision.

The military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were debated endlessly during the presidential election, and those seeking the office -- including Obama -- knew those operations wouldn't end with the Bush Administration.

And he isn't the first president to inherit a war. President Lyndon Johnson inherited the Vietnam War after the assassination of John Kennedy. Johnson escalated our involvement in Vietnam, and his presidency was criticized soundly for it. Nixon then inherited Vietnam. Despite his campaign promise to curb the war, Nixon ordered U.S. troops into Cambodia. He later began the process of withdrawing troops from Vietnam.

Today we often don't equate Kennedy with Vietnam as much as we do Johnson and Nixon, but he did send the military advisers there to train the South Vietnamese.

Obama is well aware of the history associated with these types of wars.

"First, there are those who suggest that Afghanistan is another Vietnam," Obama said.
He pointed out the difference saying the U.S. is joined by a coalition of nations. Unlike Vietnam, he pointed out Afghanistan was home to the terrorists who spilled blood on our soil.

If you listened to his speech, you heard similarities to Bush's when he told the nation why the U.S. is entering Afghanistan.

"I don't make this decision lightly," Obama said. "I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of the violent extremism practiced by al-Qaida. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak."

He said our troops will begin to come home after 18 months, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions about our strategy. And it's Obama's responsibility to answer them now.