Sunday, September 27, 2009

Robert Gates on This Week Sept. 27

On This Week, the roundtable debated a middle ground on Afghanistan and Obama's gut. The roundtable concluded that Obama has not yet made up his mind yet.
Bob Woodward said this is what makes Obama unique. He's listening and he's willing to change his mind.
George Will, who's against boosting troops in Afghanistan, says that's the hardest thing for a president to do--change his mind in public.
The biggest hindrance to progress in Afghanistan now appears to be the vast corruption in the Afghan government and the flawed election. Read Stanley McChrystal's assessment of Afghanistan here.
Watch John McCain, who's for an increase in troops (the surge in Iraq was his idea after all). McCain said he recently gave Obama his input on Afghanistan.
There is a question as to whether our troops are too stretched already.
Watch Robert Gates talk about the strategy decision here. Having the wrong strategy could be more deadly in Afghanistan, Gates said. Gates said he is sitting on McChrystal's troop request. He hasn't given it to Obama yet. Gates and McChrystal differ troop numbers.
Moving to Guantanamo, Gates said he was one of the people who recommended a deadline for closing Gitmo. A deadline needed to be imposed to overcome bureaucracy, he said. McCain disagreed.
This week's This Week was a good one. It was a rational discussion of Afghanistan, Gitmo and Iran. I highly recommend taking in the whole show.