Afghanistan | Hope is Not a Foreign Policy

Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’

Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 7:41am

Conservative Critics of the Libya Campaign Aren’t Isolationist–They’re Realists

Posted by Tom Skypek in 2012 Elections, American Foreign Policy, Conservatism, Current Events

The continued military adventure in Libya, the House of Representatives’ ambiguous rebuke of the President, and the President’s recent speech on Afghanistan, has led to a number of thoughtful articles on the current trajectory of our foreign policy which I wanted to share.

Colin Dueck, GOP Isolationist? No, Just More Jacksonian, RealClearPolitics
Tony Blankley, McCain Is Wrong: GOP Not Isolationist, The Washington Times
George Will, John McCain’s Never-ending War, The Washington Post

Lastly, I wanted to share the piece I wrote for RealClearPolitics, Conservatism Does Not End at America’s Shorelines. Like the three authors above, I, too, was prompted by the misleading comments of Sens. McCain and Graham. What the conservative intellectual movement needs is a substantive, honest debate…

1 Comment Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Isolationism, John McCain, Libya, Lindsey Graham

Thursday, February 17th, 2011 at 7:32pm

Conservatives Shouldn’t Fear Cuts to Defense Budget

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan, American Foreign Policy, Current Events, Economy, National Debt, The American Presidency

Social Security may be the third rail of American politics, but the defense budget is at least worthy of notable mention. In fact, the defense budget is arguably the most politically sensitive budget item after entitlement spending. Conservatives and Republicans, who have enjoyed an advantage over their liberal counterparts on national security issues since Vietnam, too often associate a “strong national defense” simply with increases in defense spending—without considering the expenditures in the context of broader U.S. grand strategy. Many conservatives and Republicans are reluctant to propose cuts to the defense budget out of fear for appearing weak. Many just lack any strategic sense and simply follow the big government internationalism crowd which includes both liberals and parts of the conservative movement.

Liberals and Democrats are split…

1 Comment Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Conservatives, Defense Budget, FY2012 Budget, Pentagon

Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 9:58am

A Conservative Foreign Policy for America

Posted by Tom Skypek in 2012 Elections, Afghanistan, American Foreign Policy, American Politics, Conservatism, Current Events, Tea Party, The American Presidency

Right now the biggest threat to the United States is its $14 trillion national debt. Throughout history great powers have bankrupted themselves by trying to do too much both at home and abroad, and unfortunately Washington is charging hard down that same fateful path. What is even more troubling is that when it comes to foreign policy, both major parties tend to advocate big government internationalism. The irony here is that many self-proclaimed conservatives advocate big government internationalism while championing limited government at home.

Yesterday, I outlined a new approach for American foreign policy in The Washington Examiner. It advocates redefining our national interest and reducing our military commitments abroad. Here’s an excerpt:

When it comes to foreign policy,…

No Comments Tags: 2012 Presidential Election, Afghanistan, China, Foreign Policy, National Interest, NATO, Republican Foreign Policy, Robert Taft, Tea Party

Friday, October 1st, 2010 at 3:42pm

Krauthammer on Afghanistan: “Why Is He Sending Them?”

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, The American Presidency

Charles Krauthammer has a very important piece in National Review on our involvement in Afghanistan and the shortcomings of Barack Obama as a wartime president. Krauthammer writes:

What kind of commander in chief sends tens of thousands of troops to war while announcing in advance a fixed date for beginning their withdrawal? One who doesn’t have his heart in it. One who doesn’t really want to win but is making some kind of political gesture. One who thinks he has to be seen as trying but is preparing the ground — meaning, the political cover — for failure.

We need to either go “all in” in Afghanistan or withdraw the majority of our land forces and conduct more limited operations relying primarily on special operations forces…

No Comments Tags: Afghanistan, Charles Krauthammer, Obama

Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 2:23pm

Mattis is a Great Pick to be CENTCOM Commander

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan, American Foreign Policy, Iraq

U.S. Marine Corps General James N. Mattis, who currently serves as the commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, has been selected to lead U.S. Central Command. This is an outstanding pick by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Mattis is an exemplary general officer and a true strategic thinker. Not surprisingly, the mainstream media is beating up on Mattis for some comments he’s made in the past about warfare. His remarks were candid and, unfortunately, have been taken out of context. One misleading headline reads: “James Mattis: ‘It’s fun to shoot some people.’” Here’s the context for the quote:

You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years, because they didn’t wear a veil. You know guys like that ain’t…

No Comments Tags: Afghanistan, CENTCOM, Central Command, Iraq, James N. Mattis, JFCOM, Robert Gates, USMC

Monday, July 5th, 2010 at 10:18am

Steele’s Failed Critique Highlights Division Among Conservatives on War Strategy

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan, American Culture, American Politics, Current Events

In 2006, I was really pulling for Michael Steele in his battle to win a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland. Unfortunately, Ben Cardin won and Steele wound up running the Republican National Committee. Steele’s odd remarks about the war in Afghanistan have led to a growing number of calls for his resignation among prominent conservatives. The war in Afghanistan was definitely not a war of President Barack Obama’s choosing, as Steele suggested in his remarks at a Connecticut fundraiser. This factual inaccuracy made the rest of Steele’s comments seem off-the-wall, but it appears as though he was trying to challenge the president’s strategy for prosecuting the war. He just failed miserably:

Well if he’s such a…

No Comments Tags: Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, George Will, Michael Steele, Mitt Romney

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 8:28am

How the Obama administration’s lack of credibility is weakening U.S. national security

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan, American Foreign Policy, Iran, Terrorism

Since January 20, 2009, American credibility has taken a back seat to the Obama administration’s quest for international popularity. During his trips to the Middle East and Asia last year, President Obama seemed more interested in bolstering his approval ratings abroad than advancing American interests. Last week it was reported that the Obama administration downgraded the priority placed on intelligence collection for China in an effort to increase cooperation with Beijing. This move was made despite the fact that Chinese cyberattacks against the U.S. are on the rise and the leadership in Beijing remains reticent about its massive military modernization program.

Unfortunately, U.S. national security is more dependent on the credibility of American power—and the words and policies of its…

No Comments Tags: Afghanistan, Civilian Trials for Terrorists, Credibility in Foreign Affairs, Gitmo, Iran, Obama's Foreign Policy

Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 11:28am

The Best and the Brightest v2.0

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan, American Foreign Policy

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="247" caption="President John F. Kennedy and National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy, 1962"]

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David Halberstam’s 1972 book, The Best and the Brightest, chronicles the origins of the Vietnam War in the Kennedy administration and the conduct and escalation of the war during the Johnson administration. More specifically, it examines how Camelot’s “best and the brightest” got U.S. policy in Southeast Asia so wrong. After all, how could so many smart and capable individuals make such poor foreign policy decisions?

Haunted by the specter of the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the perception that the Democrat’s were responsible for “losing China” to the communists in 1949, the Kennedy administration drew a line against communism in…

1 Comment Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, David Halberstam, General Stanley McChrystal, John F. Kennedy, McGeorge Bundy, The Best and the Brightest

Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 8:42pm

Is Obama Waiting for Tuesday’s Elections Before Making a Decision on Afghanistan?

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, American Politics

I spoke with a political consultant friend of mine today and we were talking about Afghanistan. He said, “Obama will announce his decision on the troop increase after Tuesday’s elections. He’s going to send the troops, but he doesn’t want the backlash from his decision to alienate the left before Tuesday.” So, is Obama waiting to announce his decision on Afghanistan until after the elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York? It’s tough to say; we can only speculate, but such political calculus seems to be consistent with Obama and his advisers from the Windy City.

To date, Obama has gotten a free pass from the anti-war left. Remember when he was the anti-war candidate for the Democratic Party and was going to…

2 Comments Tags: 2009 Elections, Afghanistan

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 9:35pm

Half-Measures in Afghanistan

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan

Stephen Biddle has an outstanding piece in The New Republic today where he cautions against adopting a middle-of-the-road approach to Afghanistan. Biddle explains:

None of the usual middle-way proposals are thus likely to be effective as alternatives to reinforcement. Many are potentially important components of an integrated, properly resourced COIN strategy. But to pull pieces out of this integrated context and undertake them as substitutes for major troop deployments is to deny them essential preconditions they need to function. The pieces of orthodox COIN strategy interact: security enables development and governance, development and governance enhance security, governance facilitates counterterrorism, counterterrorism improves security, security enables negotiation and reconciliation. Each is a valuable complement to the others; none is…

No Comments Tags: Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, Stephen Biddle