If there had been any question as to Obama's intent to secure victory in Afghanistan, there is no longer any doubt.
Obama's prisoner swap with the Taliban clarifies that.
John Bolton writes, "He is surrendering in Afghanistan."
From the New York Post:
Despite Obama’s customarily exaggerated rhetoric, his agreement constituted a substantial setback for America both in the war against terrorism and for a wider world concerned about declining American power and resolve. Bergdahl’s release should be a fire bell in the night for Americans looking forward.Bolton offers a concise analysis of the ramifications of Obama's Taliban swap.
First, swapping Bergdahl for illegal enemy combatants (terrorists, in common parlance) signaled unmistakably to Taliban and al Qaeda that Obama is determined to withdraw from Afghanistan no matter what the cost to the United States or those in Afghanistan fighting to remain free.
Just days earlier, during his West Point graduation speech, Obama had again stressed that, no matter what the facts are on the ground, US forces will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2016. If the terrorists still had even the slightest doubt that they needed only a minimal amount of patience to regain control in Kabul, Obama has done everything in his power to eliminate that.
He is surrendering in Afghanistan.
...Second, it is despicable for an American president to equate a US service member with terrorist criminals such as those at Gitmo. This is the worst form of moral equivalence, the inexcusable mistake of equating two radically different kinds of people or policies.
...Third, Obama tried to disguise his error by characterizing the exchange as consistent with our military tradition of leaving no US service members behind. But Obama’s rhetoric is way off the mark, and the overwhelming majority of our warriors would reject it.
Our entire government has an obligation to protect all American citizens overseas.
...Finally, and most basically, it has long been America’s unwavering, bipartisan policy not to negotiate with terrorists, especially for the exchange of hostages. By trading to release hostages, we are invariably putting a price on the heads of other Americans.
...The Bergdahl deal is now history, but it nonetheless provides important lessons.
Clear-eyed presidents must put America first in national security matters.
All of us as individuals are safer when our country and leaders are strong, and all of us as individuals are more at risk when they are weak. And today we are in ever-increasing danger because of weakness in the White House.
Obama is surrendering Afghanistan.
The overwhelming majority of American deaths in Afghanistan have occurred with Obama as commander-in-chief. It's his war, and he's content to lose it.
Obama is weak.
That's bad for us and it's bad for the free world.
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