Bookended by 9/11 at the start and a financial wipeout at the end, the first 10 years of this century will very likely go down as the most dispiriting and disillusioning decade Americans have lived through in the post–World War II era. We’re still weeks away from the end of ‘09, but it’s not too early to pass judgment. Call it the Decade from Hell, or the Reckoning, or the Decade of Broken Dreams, or the Lost Decade. Call it whatever you want — just give thanks that it is nearly over.
Thats what I’ve concluded after reading through only about a third of his web page. Everything from baking it to finding the best places to eat it. Seriously, check him out.
Relatively soon, President Obama will pitch his plan for the war in Afghanistan. If you’ve been following the news, it’s no news to you that he’s been catching heat for delaying his decision. Could you blame him, though? The media seems to be in agreement that additional US forces will be deployed to the region. Obama had to give the American people a few weeks to forget about him winning a Nobel Peace Prize.
Support within the administration has grown for continuing a counterinsurgency strategy with a greater focus on protecting major Afghan population centers along with agricultural areas and transportation routes.
But how will this President sell an escalation of the war?
If President Obama chooses the path already cleared for him, he will surely give a good speech. We can expect fiery rhetoric and vague platitudes about keeping the world safe for democracy, stabilizing the region, with a tug on the old 9/11/01 heart-string. But while the American public is being prepped for the safe middle of the road sales pitch, I can’t help but ponder the possibility of a real change in foreign policy.
