I must admit, I can't find anything to argue with on this..

Obama has finally done this country proud..

Let's hope it's an indication of things to come...

Michale.....

Petraeus is also a very interesting choice for Obama. As he's probably the only person who Obama would have a tough time overruling. Especially, after picking him to lead the effort.

The same could be said of McChrystal.. To a lesser extent of course. But McChrystal was hand-picked as well. Which is why Obama probably went with the McChrystal strategy in the first place. Obama would have looked silly hand-picking McChrystal then turning around and ignoring the advice his hand-picked warrior put forth.

Michale.....

I'll give you credit, Michale. You stand by what you originally said about McChrystal.

In an interesting poll on Foxnews website, 67% said Obama did not do the right thing.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/06/23/decide-mcchrystal-resignation-obama-right-thing/

Here's how the poll was worded:

Gen. Stanley McChrystal offered his resignation to President Obama, which was accepted. Did the president do the right thing?

1) No. We need stability in Afghanistan. The general should have been forgiven.
2) Yes. The chain of command must be respected by the military.

I find this interesting both of these tend to be different aspects of conservative philosophy. Respect the chain of command. Create stability.

What I think Michale is pointing out is that Obama managed to satisfy both of these conservative ideas.

He demonstrated and upheld military rule while at the same time preserving stability with the choice of Petraeus.

I'm actually a little surprised that most FoxNews viewers still disagreed.

Petraeus is also a very interesting choice for Obama. As he's probably the only person who Obama would have a tough time overruling. Especially, after picking him to lead the effort.

Michale or Chris - Do either of you know a good reference that discusses Petraeus' counterinsurgency strategy? COIN, I believe it's called. Or "government in a box" as Chris called it.

I heard a little bit about it on NPR last night and I'd be interested in knowing more of the details. Mostly, because I think Petraeus has done an interesting thing politically.

I think - but would have to know more - that his strategy is one which many "liberals" or moderates find acceptable. At least in the given situation where we are already in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(PROGRAM NOTE: This is not an endorsement of going to war against countries we disagree with. But I think almost everyone is asking the question: we're in this mess, how do we get out?)

Cheers
David

Seems to me, the timing is just about perfect..

Is there something preventing McChrystal from running?

Michale.....

What are the odds we will see Presidential Candidate McChrystal on the ballot in 2012?? :D

Michale.....

But Marjah was simply a test run for Kandahar. All the mistakes made at Marjah will be corrected for Kandahar.

The Kandahar Op was supposed to kickstart things into high gear, but became bogged down while fixing the errors that were pointed out in Marjah..

There IS some momentum.

The only question is, will Patraues parachuting in (metaphorically speaking) be the seamless xfer of command the Obama Administration hopes it will be.

Again, giving credit where credit is due, Obama picked the ONE replacement that made such a seamless xfer of command at least possible. I have to admit it, this is one decision Obama made that I can really get behind.

Anyone else and it would have been a No Go from the get go.

Michale.....

What little momentum in Afghanistan are you talking about?

You are absolutely right about General Petraeus.

However, your logic is impeccable.

This clearly comes under the heading of "c'thia" as the say on Vulcan...

I DO see the American Hysterical Left going bat-chit now, now that General "Betray-us" is back in charge...

And, having promised David I would do so when the opportunity arose, I have to give Obama credit. I don't agree with his replacing McChrystal (although I DO see the logic behind it) but I must admit that Obama probably chose the BEST way to go about replacing McChrystal. "Demoting" Patraeus was the best way, practically the ONLY way, to possibly keep what little momentum we have in Afghanistan going.

And, you really have to admire the patriotism of Patraeus. Any man willing to trade Tampa for Kabul for his country is a man to be admired and respected.

Michale.....