Last night President Obama tried to have it both ways and may end up alienating everyone. Bowing to military necessity, he commendably ordered that more troops be sent to Afghanistan. But as a sop to his leftist base, he didn’t ask for as many as his general says are needed to win, and he announced a date when the U.S. will leave, no doubt emboldening the terrorists.
Since the Democrats will be unhappy with anything short of unilateral withdrawal, Obama should have simply announced we would “pay any price for the advance of liberty.” Instead, he appears weak and vacillating. Let’s hope his spine stiffens as events unfold. There’s a war to win.
About Stan Guthrie
Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and for the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His latest book is God's Story in 66 Verses. He also is author of All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century, and A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. He is co-author of The Sacrament of Evangelism. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers.
Stan writes the monthly Priorities colum for BreakPoint.org. He has appeared on National Public Radio's Tell Me More, WGN's Milt Rosenberg program, and many Christian shows, including The Eric Metaxas Show and Moody Radio's New Day Florida. A licensed minister and an inspirational speaker, he served as moderator for the Christian Book Expo panel discussion, Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?