“McChrystal Light” Is Not a Strategy We Can Believe In

James Carafano / October 29, 2009

Apparently, after ten months on the job, the commander-in-chief still can’t figure out how to be commander-in-chief. This would be like if almost year after Pearl Harbor President Roosevelt was still seeking input on what to do. According to the Washington Post this morning, Obama has now asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan “to help determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help.” He supposedly “wants the clearest possible understanding of what the challenges are to our forces and what is required to meet the challenge.” Fine, go out and get that information. Sounds useful. But why did it take 9 months to know he needed it?!

This is more evidence, that the President might be considering “McChrystal Light”, a strategy which includes protecting portions of the population, putting more emphasis on going after al Qaeda (something pushed for by the Vice President), but authorizing far less troops than the general asked for. That doesn’t sound right either. (more…)