Specter, Sestak, Lentz, Meehan on Obama's War Strategy

Local candidates for national office weigh in on Obama's 30,000-soldier surge and timetable to leave Afghanistan. Says Sen. Arlen Specter:

“It is unrealistic to expect the United States to be out in 18 months, so there is really no exit strategy. This venture is not worth so many American lives or the billions it will add to our deficit.”

Democrats are always talking about "exit strategies" when it comes to war, never winning them.

Says Rep. Joe Sestak:

"If we leave al-Qaeda behind in a safe haven and are struck again, what can we ever say to those we swore to protect? From the outset of this debate, I have called for a strategy that is focused on al-Qaeda in Pakistan, is not overly dependent on nation-building in Afghanistan and is not open-ended. The president stated similar goals.”

The president was all over the map, trying to be the responsible leader of the free world while trying to placate the irresponsible anti-war left wing of his party with an announced 2011 time-table for withdrawal.

Congressional candidate Bryan Lentz said:

“And the objective of the timetable is not the enemy, the objective is the people and the leaders of Afghanistan,” Lentz said. “They need to have a motivation, they need to know our assistance and our soldiers fighting (will) not go on forever. At some point, they have to stand up, and nothing motivates like knowing there’s a deadline approaching.”

Hard to imagine FDR or Lincoln announcing time-tables for WWII or the Civil War to end.

And finally, former Specter chief of staff, Pat Meehan running for Sestak's vacated seat:

The Afghanistan government does not, at this point in time, have anywhere near the security forces trained and capable of containing the insurgency as it currently presents itself, and their is a plan to turn that over, but it will require real commitment from the (Afghani President Hamid) Karzai government to enable that to happen. The challenge is going to be holding them accountable to doing so.

“He’s (Obama) ultimately created a point in which the determination would be made by conditions on the ground. I do think there was a resolute tone in his presentation, which should send a signal, but the insurgents are waiting to see the degree of genuine commitment and that is going to be only understood over time and with success.”

The problem wasn't in the President's tone. It was the process over which he publicly agonized and dithered over the decision for months. It's impossible to know how resolute he is. And when the going gets tough in six months or a year, when casualties start to mount and his fellow Democrats start to demand immediately withdraw, we'll see how resolute our Commander in Chief is.