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The Opposite of Rousing

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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The best that can be said about President Obama’s West Point speech is that it was civil. Obama did not accuse opponents of the Afghan surge of appeasement; he did not imply that he has a proprietary relationship to 9/11 or a commitment to America’s security that his political opponents...

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