Well, THAT'S Gonna Leave a Mark...

Jules Crittenden writing about the AP report that The One has rejected all the Afghanistan "options" presented to him so far... and ordered his National Security folks to serve up "other options:"

OK, I get that the political piece is vitally important, and for Eikenberry (ed: US ambassador to The Af), up to his armpits in scheming warlords and bureaucrats in Kabul with his frontline diplomats daily engaged in pitched and desperate note-passing against an entrenched corruptancy, the light at the top of his own well probably is awfully dim and far away. This is a highly complex situation. Thinking outside the box, maybe it does make sense to put the cart ahead of the horse. It is intriguing, though, that in the middle of a hot war in which a determined, murderous enemy is making gains, there are ”options beyond military planning” that are so pressing that they actually trump military planning.  Sounds like the president, in a show of resolve, wants to signal more firmly to Karzai and the scheming warlords that the United States is prepared to hold its breath until the Afghan people turn blue, or that the United States might even take its bat and ball and go home. Also, to signal to the United States military that he won’t be pushed around if it kills them.

One bright spot, in the Vietnam avoidance agenda. Remember how they accused LBJ of picking targets from the Oval Office? Can’t accuse Obama of that. He’s actively not picking targets from the Oval Office.

In the meantime, our Ditherer-in-Chief is jetting off to Beijing to try and convince the Chinese they should finance his health plan, his economic stimuli, and his other assorted pricey pet rocks.  And further in the meantime, our troops in The Af won't get the resources their commander asked for BACK IN AUGUST, a request which the military establishment... including the SecDef and CENTCOM commander... supports.  Amazing, innit?

But... you should go read Mr. Crittenden.  The man is frickin' spot-on.