HOME :: PUBLICATIONS :: Losing the Plot in Libya and Afghanistan, by PRESIDENTIAL POLICY: DOES IT MAKE THE GRADE?, JAMES JAY CARAFANO, PHD

Losing the Plot in Libya and Afghanistan

by PRESIDENTIAL POLICY: DOES IT MAKE THE GRADE?, JAMES JAY CARAFANO, PHD June 28, 2011
 
Secretary Gates ended his long goodbye last week. The Senate unanimously confirmed Leon Panetta as his replacement. Confirmation hearings were also held for David Petraeus as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. All of this was over shadowed, however, by other news as the president mismanaged America’s wars on two fronts.
 
Congressional turmoil over the president’s Libya policy persisted. The House pointedly rejected a resolution authorizing support for military operations. Other measures propose cutting off funding may be voted on this week.
 
There is no question that the House’s anger at the White House is well justified. “Obama’s ham-handed approach has been an insult to the constitutional role of Congress in defining and punishing offenses against the law of nations, as specified in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution,” writes former Congressman and Heritage scholar Ernest Istook, “Obama failed to make any meaningful consultation with Congress before he committed American forces, much less obtain any type of actual approval from Congress.”
 
Yet, he rightfully adds, “Yes, it’s tempting for Congress to “teach him a lesson” by voting to cut off U.S. funding immediately for Libyan operations.  The power of the purse is Congress’ strongest counter-balance to the President’s role as commander-in-chief. But the countervailing argument is that our NATO allies—a key component of America’s national security—have been pulled into the Libya fray based on assurances and urgings from the Obama Administration. 
 
Those may have been improvident, but they are real. A precipitous exit from America’s role in Operation Unified Protector would pull the rug out from under our allies, making it less likely they would ever be willing to stand with America in the future when we have real need for their help.” The need not to abandon NATO, but also send a clear message to the president has left Congress scratching its head on how to square the circle.
 
Libya, however, is not the only controversy on the front burner. Obama also announced significant troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. While the president touted the drawdown as the “dividend” of success on the ground, that seems unlikely. Military advisors including General Petraeus and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen admitted they thought the speed of the drawdown was “risky.” The fact is, the US counterinsurgency campaign required the NATO troops not only to build-up Afghanistan security forces, but also to drive the Taliban out of the southern and eastern parts of the country. In 2009, Obama gave the generals half the “surge” troops they requested. As a result, they only did half the job. US troops did significantly degrade the Taliban presence in the south. Now, however, as they turn to finish the job, they find they will have far less troops than they need. As a result, casualties could be far greater—and the mission may fail.
 
In mismanaging both Libya and Afghanistan, the president has contributed greatly to “foreign-policy” fatigue in the United States. At a time when the US must remain vigilant about emerging threats—many are asking if the president won’t act to protect US vital interests—why bother?  That is a dangerous attitude to have in a dangerous world.
 
For grossly mismanaging military deployments the president’s grade for the week has to be an “F” for failure.
 
 
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affairs, intelligence, and strategy, military operations and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.
 

James Carafano is a leading expert in defense affairs, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at The Heritage Foundation. He was an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and fleet professor at the U.S. Naval War College. Carafano is the author of several military history books and studies. Carafano also is the coauthor of Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom; coauthor of the text book, Homeland Security published by McGraw-Hill; and the principal author of Emergency Responders: Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and has provided commentary for ABC, BBC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, SkyNews, PBS, National Public Radio, the History Channel, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Telemundo, Al Arabiya and Australian, Austrian, Canadian, French, Greek, Hong Kong, Irish, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish television. His editorials have appeared in newspapers nationwide including The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, The New York Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today and The Washington Times. Carafano is a member of the National Academy's Board on Army Science and Technology, the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee, and is a Senior Fellow at the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute.

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