Supporting the President on Afghanistan

President Barack Obama bucked the vocal left wing of the Democratic Party and Congress, and committed the United States to victory in Afghanistan. Though Republicans might pick at this and that part of the President’s proposal, President Obama’s commitment of 30,000 additional troops and his reasons for doing so are in line generally with President Bush’s proposals a year ago.

Some will blame some sort of political equation for President Obama’s decision. Left wingers are certain to go bit nuts about it. But, perhaps there is something larger at work.

When a man becomes President of the United States, he becomes privy to information that was unavailable to him as a candidate. Further, by and large, that information is unavailable to most members of Congress and certainly to political activists. The information is presented to the President by military professionals committed to the security of the United States, not any partisan agenda.

Thus, any man who occupies the office of President of the United States and is sincerely committed to the security of the United States will come to similar conclusions another President of the opposite political party made. Therefore, it is no surprise that President Obama is taking a course in Afghanistan that is similar to Bush policy. The Presidency moderates the occupant on national security, but will national security moderate Obama critics on the right and left?

President Obama should be applauded for realizing that the national security issues in southwest Asia are far bigger than domestic partisan politics. The President has made some big mistakes in his ten months in office, but his decision to commit to victory in southwest Asia is not one of them. Though the Obama Afghanistan plan is not perfect, it is in line with national security interests. Therefore, Republicans and conservatives should support the President on the Afghanistan plan and work with him for its success.