Did America Buy It?
The Daily Beast experts Peter Beinart, Nicolle Wallace, Tunku Varadarajan, Christopher Brownfield, Saad Mohseni, Ret. Col. Ken Allard, Elise Jordan, and Benjamin Sarlin weigh in on Obama’s Afghanistan battle cry.
The Opposite of RousingBy Peter Beinart
The goals were narrow, and delivered without regard to America’s moral obligation to Afghanistan. Peter Beinart on Obama’s missed opportunity.
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Right Policy, Wrong SpeechBy Nicolle Wallace
Obama’s embrace of the counterinsurgency strategy deserves applause across the political spectrum. But what was missing, Nicolle Wallace argues, was any sense of what’s in his heart.
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Obama's Eeyore ActBy Tunku Varadarajan
It was elegant, but would it kill him to endorse winning? Tunku Varadarajan on how Obama’s Afghan ambivalence left even the cadets depressed.
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Fighting the Wrong WarBy Christopher Brownfield
Obama’s worst-case scenario is a terrorist grabbing a nuke from a failed state. So what would his new plan do to prevent that?
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The goals are good, says Afghan media mogul Saad Mohseni, but by putting a time limit on America’s involvement, Obama emboldens the enemy.
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Ignoring Iraq’s LessonsBy Elise Jordan
The success of Obama’s Afghan plan rests heavily on the continued success of Bush’s Iraq surge. Elise Jordan on the debt the president owes his predecessor.
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The speech wasn’t bad. But Obama failed to inspire, let alone satisfy. Ken Allard asks: Whatever happened to “pay any price, bear any burden?”
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Borrowing From Bush's PlaybookBy Benjamin Sarlin
Obama’s speech contained eerie echoes of Bush’s wartime addresses. Or did it? Benjamin Sarlin compares the rhetoric.
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Watch: 7 Key Moments to Obama's SpeechBy The Daily Beast Video
The goals were narrow, and delivered without regard to America’s moral obligation to Afghanistan. Peter Beinart of Obama’s missed opportunity.
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