Finally. Obama Admits Iraq Surge Worked.

Why was something that was so obvious to most Americans, politicians & pundits, so difficult for our Commander-in-Chief to admit? What could possibly be the reason for President Barack Obama and many of his Democratic cohorts and skeptics for not acknowledging that the surge in Iraq worked better than they ever thought it would?

I really cannot comprehend for the life of me, what is it that President Obama hopes to accomplish by behaving so childish over this issue. The surge worked. Why can’t our President admit the obvious? Why can’t he hold a press conference and just come out and be upfront to the American public and finally confess, that the surge worked?

Oh, I see. What a terrible thing it would be for our President to be called a flip-flopper. A Bush sympathizer. A war-mongering President. That would be too much to bear. Admit that Bush was actually right? Never in a million years.
Not even on the day of his troop level decision making speech at West Point where half the cadets fell asleep on him, could he muster up one iota of respect for his predecessors’ contributions and success of the surge in Iraq. The best his teleprompter could spit out was:

“Today, after extraordinary costs, we are bringing the Iraq war to a responsible end.”
“That we are doing so is a testament to the character of our men and women in uniform. Thanks to their courage, grit and perseverance, we have given Iraqis a chance to shape their future, and we are successfully leaving Iraq to its people.”

Never once did he mention the success of the surge or give credit to the Bush administration. Hey, Mr. Obama, the campaign is over. You are President. It’s ok to say that the surge worked. We get it already. We know that you opposed the surge all throughout your campaign and as far back as 2007. You did not believe in our troops then, and as we will see, you don’t’ believe in them now.

But this is December 2009. We all now know that the surge worked. And every soldier’s family that lost a son or a daughter in this conflict should know so as well.
So when you go in front of the American people to try and sell them on escalating the war in Afghanistan and to commit more of their children to the ravages of war, wouldn’t it be an easier sell if you simply told them that because of the valor demonstrated by their brave sons & daughter’s and the success of the surge in Iraq, millions of people there will begin to one day enjoy the same freedoms we take for granted here at home?

Wouldn’t it be easier to say that we kicked-ass and were victorious in Iraq instead of being politically correct and watering down that success? Why is it always about “Hard-earned milestones and markers?” Would it hurt our troop moral to hear from our Commander-in-Chief that Iraq should serve as a warning to any rogue nation looking to do harm to US citizens? One would think they would welcome the compliment.

Having said all of this, we all know that what President Obama says & promises is one thing when he does it publicly, as opposed to when he does in private. We all remember how he characterized small town Pennsylvanians voters at one of his San Francisco fundraisers during his campaign. In the warmth & comfort of fellow elitists whose votes he was trying to secure, he described the growing resentment & frustrations towards elitists by small town Pennsylvanians this way:

“It’s not surprising when they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Yet, while he was in campaign mode back in Pennsylvania, he praised them and explained to them how he was an avid supporter of the Second Amendment.
On another occasion during his campaign, Obama made promises about renegotiating NAFTA and actually agreed with Hillary Clinton on this issue. But as it turned out, behind closed doors in a secret meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister, he sang a different tune. The Canadians claimed that Obama had reassured them that all the talk about NAFTA during the campaign was just rhetoric to appease the public. I can go on and on but almost a year into the Obama Presidency, we all know that Obama has not been straight with the American Public.

BREAKING NEWS.

And so we now learn from General David Petraeus that Obama finally came clean and admitted to him that the surge in Iraq worked and that he wanted to model the surge into Afghanistan in the same fashion. On a Fox News Sunday interview, Petraeus opened up about how Obama came to finally realize what most of us had figured out long a go – the surge was a success.

The head of the Central Command, Petraeus spoke about his meetings with Barack Obama and how the game-plan that was used so effectively in Iraq could be implemented in Afghanistan. According to Petraeus, Obama was like a kid in a candy store. He wanted to know how troops in Iraq worked with Iraqi forces to secure the population and gain the confidence of the many different factions in Iraq. They talked about the differences between the two regions and some of elements that of each that were similar.

As we now also know, the delay in coming to a decision as to the troop level, was not about coming up with an exit strategy. Obama knew all along that escalating the war in Afghanistan would mean that our troops would be there for the next 15-20 years. This has just come to light as Afghan President Hamid Karzai told visiting Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates on Tuesday.
For 15 to 20 years, Afghanistan will not be able to sustain a force of that nature and capability with its own resources," Karzai told a news conference.

"We hope that the international community and the United States, as our first ally, will help Afghanistan reach the ability to sustain a force."

To tell the American people that troop withdrawal will begin as early as July 2011 is disingenuous. Once again, in order to placate his base and sell this to the American public,

Obama resorts to what he does best, he goes behind closed doors and says one thing, and then gets in front of the American people and announces something totally opposite.
But at last, he finally admits that the surge in Iraq worked and said it was a success. If only now he would stand in front of Americans and finally announce it to everyone.