“Troop morale is down in Afghanistan,” reports the Stars and Stripes, citing Army findings in a new survey that showed “dramatically decreased unit morale compared with previous years.” According to the study, a major factor in keeping up morale is the amount of “dwell time” spent at home between deployments.
But there’s another factor worth considering — though I base this not on a study, but on a hunch. When was the last time that Barack Obama, as president and commander-in-chief of these troops, dropped by Afghanistan to do his part to buck up morale?
The answer is: Never.
During the presidential campaign last year, trying to burnish his foreign policy credentials, Obama went to Afghanistan as part of a whirlwind nine-day trip to eight countries. He began with Afghanistan because — according to the New York Times account of July 20, 2008 — “he was seeking to highlight what he says is its importance as the key front in the fight against terrorism.”
By now, Obama has been president for almost 10 months, and during that time U.S. troop fatalities in Afghanistan have soared. Last month was the deadliest since the war there began. On Obama’s presidential watch to date, more than 270 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan, and many more have been wounded. While that’s been going on, what’s been on the travel itinerary of the commander-in-chief? He hasn’t been back to Afghanistan since his campaign stop there in the summer of 2008. He has been to Cairo to “reach out” to Muslims. He has been to Copenhagen to lobby for Chicago’s (failed) Olympic bid. He has been to France to commemorate D-Day 65 years ago. He has used his presidential traveling prerogatives for such matters as family time in Chicago, a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard,and a “date night” in Manhattan with Michelle. He is expected to go to Oslo next month to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
But since becoming president, he has not been to Afghanistan.
An Obama appearance would only lower morale. I know every time I see him, I feel terrible. I just can’t stand the sight of this creep anymore. So, why would our troops feel any different? If anything, I imagine they’d feel worse than I do.
Cowards cannot walk with confidence amongst real men.
Obama doesn’t go to Afghanistan because he knows that our soldiers are everything decent that he will never be.
Americans should be ashamed of what they have done to our troops morale by electing Barrack Hussein Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7sv10iPF6k
Best thing to do: bring all the troops home from Irak and Afghanistan. What a waste of resources. Let the Russians, Chinese, Indian and Israelites take care of their playground.
Is this a surprise? Remember during the campaign when he wouldn’t visit the wounded in Germany, because he couldn’t bring his camera crew? We tried to tell people!
Of course, it might not be safe for him to go to Afghanistan. The ground isn’t as secure, anymore, and the friendlies might be hostile. Who knows? A Tea-Party might even break out.
This guy who happens to occupy the Oval Office has zero respect for the troops. Mouthing some carefully couched phrases in carefully conducted photo op type speeches in the CONUS is strictly for appearances only.
Despite all the failings of Dubya, at least nobody could seriously doubt his genuine love of the troops…by visiting them in both theaters of war, multiple times, by visiting the seriously wounded ones in hospitals, personally awarding medals to them, and by evincing emotions during such occasions that were clearly real in all their awkwardness.
Meanwhile, the One was brought up in a ideologically very different environment. In true uber-leftie ‘summer of love’ style, the One surely believes in his heart that the troops are either mindless automatons or soulless baby killers.
I doubt the One has ever been friends with anyone who has been either a veteran or a serving member of the Armed Forces (conscientious objectors don’t count).
Of course, he should go, he should have already been there. He should have gone straight to Ft. Hood the day after it happened. He should go to work everyday and not play so much basketball. The Ditherer in Chief.
What could be more depressing than putting your life on the line to fight in a war you country isn’t even trying to win? He should stay away and not force any of these patriots to be used as props for his delusional and narcissistic propaganda.
Obama expects adulation everywhere he goes.I am sure the troops would be respectful but the majority would not show the obsequiesness he requires.Also,how could he look them in the eye after all his dithering over sending more troops.
Why should Obama worry about troop morale? If they continue to follow his orders (or lack of them) why should he bother? Raising troop morale won’t get Obama’s social programs passed. In addition if he were to visit Afghanistan it would become his war as opposed to another mess that Bush left to him.
The troops aren’t in his interest.
He’s not stupid. He’s not going to expose himself to thousands of armed men and women who have sworn an oath to support and defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
6. Marc Malone:
“Is this a surprise? Remember during the campaign when he wouldn’t visit the wounded in Germany, because he couldn’t bring his camera crew? We tried to tell people!”
Among the wild-eyed hysteria of baseless accusation so far, you’re the only one who has asserted a fact. And I’m going to give you the opportunity to recant your assertion. You might want to look into it a bit.
The author blatantly misrepresented the results of the survey. It is true that morale among the troops in Afghanistan is low. But there is nothing in the data that suggests it has nothing to do with President Obama. How can I make such a claim? Because the level of morale reported in the most recent poll is UNCHANGED from the results of a similar poll taken in 2007. If you care about the troops, it’s time to start thinking HONESTLY about the situation. For example, could it be that troops are frustrated by the lack of a real strategy? Could it be that extended tours of duty are taking their toll?
Let me see.
This man calls the Police stupid.
And calls “inexplicable” the actions of the islamic terrorist at Fort Hood.
…
If he goes to Afghanistan he will side with the Talebans.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
#2 Terry I agree
#6 Marc Malone, the friendlies might be hostile, indeed.
Bush went to the Returns of soldiers killed in action many times. And forbade any photos.
Obama has been once; and specifically requested that his photo be taken.
That tells you that It’s Always About Obama. Always.
He’s refused to call them terrorists. Now, they are simlply ‘insurgents’. He’s refused to call the war as a War on Terror. Now it’s an ‘overseas contingency operation’.
And his current decision to give the five worst terrorists a showcase trial in New York is really not a trial of these men, for their guilt is clear. It’s an attack by Obama on the American people, on those people who have dared to criticize The One.
The trial, the five’s lawyers and security paid for by millions of taxpayer dollars, is a politial tactic to Bash Bush, to make Americans feel guilty for ‘inciting good people to become jihadists’..and divert attenion during the election years from the disasters of Obama’s reign.
It’s Obamas answer to the Tea Parties, which he himself calls ‘teabaggers’. They dared to criticize Him. So, he puts America on trial.
He called Afghanistan the only just war, and now he is doing all he can to lose it. That is why he won’t go there. He is to busy bowing to royalty to take care of business at home. Obama is a first class coward and certainly not Commander in Chief of the military.
Obama’s strategy is to put distance in public between himself and anything that is his responsibility, but which he does not want the citizens to realize is his responsbility.
He emphasizes his role as commander-in-chief when it suits his agenda, e.g., when a troop request from the general in charge doesn’t please him.
The supremacy of PC was announced by Gen. Casey, and Obama is pulling the strings.
Obama’s actions cannot be justified by mistakes made by George W. Bush. Besides, Obama won the election as the anti-Bush; he promised to CHANGE all that, remember?
PC in the federal government began years ago, but in Obama’s administration PC has become the ultimate standard.
We have the same problem in England. Our Prime Minister does not like the military; he never has. He doesn’t think this is his war – it’s Tony Blair’s war. He isn’t interested and just wants to get out. Your man Obama is just the same. God alone knows how it is all going to turn out.
“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” -Confucius
Obama would do well to reflect upon this little bit of prose:
It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives the protester the right to burn the flag.
I don’t know who wrote the above, but I do know that Obama’s lack of respect for the work of our troops is disgusting.
Obama doesn’t go to Afghanistan because he doesn’t want anything to do with the war, and he doesn’t care about the troops. It’s that simple.
Lest we forget…
ABC News March 13, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama’s pastor says blacks should not sing “God Bless America” but “God damn America.”
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s south side, has a long history of what even Obama’s campaign aides concede is “inflammatory rhetoric,” including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own “terrorism.”
In a campaign appearance earlier this month, Sen. Obama said, “I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial.”
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
#5 “Let the Russians, Chinese, Indian and Israelites take care of their playground.”
Cross off the Russians. They tried and failed. Remember? Hhmmmmmmmm?
#14 Now and The
” And I’m going to give you the opportunity to recant your assertion. You might want to look into it a bit.”
Does the phrase ‘arrogant popinjay’ come to mind?
#15
Just like a Poli Sci student. No sources to check in some of their publications, no evidence for their theories, full of high sentence but a bit obtuse, as T.S. Eliot once wrote, feigned knowledge of military expertise and imaginative speculation.
From Yahoo News:
“The new Afghanistan survey found that individual soldier morale was about the same as previous studies, but that unit morale rates were significantly lower.”
#15
“If you care about the troops, it’s time to start thinking HONESTLY about the situation. For example, could it be that troops are frustrated by the lack of a real strategy? Could it be that extended tours of duty are taking their toll?”
I have taken this advice to heart. After much HONEST thinking I have recognized that his/her comment is calling for universal military service. Poli Sci points out in so many words that only a draft will allow us to confront all of the foreign military dangers Obama’s reign of indecisiveness and seeming weakness is evoking.
I know the president went to Iraq but I did not know he had never visited Afghanistan. Remember, Afghanistan only really hit the news cycle as we have begun our withdrawal from Iraq. Maybe he should get over there eh? I think you might see a visit once he decides whether or not to commit more troops, or maybe a bit sooner. Those visits are not usually published, in advance, due to security issues. Afghanistan is the senior war, two years older than Iraq…we have been there over eight years, so many lives lost, billions spent and no real progress to report so far… Another eight years?… a big decision for sure. Good luck to him.
Here’s the thing, Rosette. I spent the last ten minutes looking at the content of every column you wrote from January 2008 to January 2009. You didn’t mention Afghanistan once. Lots of talk about trying to start another war, in Iran, nothing about Afghanistan. Forgive me if I don’t take your sudden concern with the troops in Afghanistan seriously; they never mattered to you when GW Bush was President. I doubt they really matter to you now.
I’m former military, I know lots of current and former military. If I were slogging through Afganistan, the last thing I’d want would be Obama showing up. Polish everything, look smart, impress the CinC with our gung-ho ness.
Perhaps we could send him over to the other side and hope he talks the moojies to death.
When you think about everything, “President Biden” doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
Whatever is useful is convenient. Whatever is counter productive is inconvenient.
Does it boil down to anything else for the Chief
Deformed Soul in the Oval Office, with his hordes of deformed souls, zombies and other assorted ilk, who have their paws on the levers
of power inside the Beltway? I say, no!
The troops in the field (not including the decorated officers) are not concerned with photo-ops that were the signature of GWB and his sycophants who visited Iraq and Afghanistan over the last eight years. The non-coms simply want to know what their true mission and objectives are.
How would this be provided by a photo-op trip to Afghanistan by President Obama?
In Army leadership training, the cardinal rule for an officer is to be with his troops. Other rules: look after your troops and they will take care of you; you eat after you make sure your troops have been fed; lead by example.
When I was on KP in officer training, our colonel came in, told us to take a break, and had coffee with us. I would have done anything for that man. He was a leader.
It’s a shame we elected a community organizer, not a leader.
#25 Fred – Thanks, buddy. Arrogant popinjay, indeed! But, I shall, nevertheless, respond.
#14 Now and Then – I’m not going to have this argument with you about the particulars of his non-appearance. He announced plans to go, then cancelled them after the military told him there were certain restrictions. The Left think they have adequately responded to the criticism. The Right believes otherwise.
I, having served, and having studied much of military history and customs, know more about this than the average bear. If you are a government representative, and you say you shall visit the wounded troops, then you effin’ show up, come Hell or High Water. No excuses. You’d better damned well be dying yourself, if you don’t show up. Anything else is just crap.
It’s about your word. It’s about accountability. It’s about the link between the troops and their country and its leaders. If you want civilian control over the military, then you damned well better do the necessary things. The Left, and Obama especially, does not understand accountability.
Most, themselves having never served, do not understand Duty, Honor, Country. They do not understand, that in the military, there is no TRY. There is only DO. No excuses.
We could have this argument ad infinitum, but it would never be resolved, because we don’t speak the same language. We lack the same referents. You live in a different reality; a fantasy-land. You cannot even understand why it is that it is important for Obama to visit the troops.
Claudia – Obama is doing what he does best: voting Present.
I think he’s now more preoccupied with visiting other countries to work together and join a conference between countries but it is not possible if he does not recall its troops in Afghanistan.
When will POTUS Obama (PBUH) visit Afganistan?
When the American military has been defeated and he can bow down before the Taliban and Al Q.
simpole really once you’ve realized what the POTUS’s true agenda is.
Visiting our troops would be the adult thing to do, I don’t believe he or any of his staff konws how to be adult. And why would the soldiers want to see a weak sister like Obama,who shows his disdain for them openly . What makes me sick is the educated people who voted for him and still do not see the light .
It costs $1 million/year to have ONE soldier in Afghanistan. Multiply that by the number of existing or additional troops. It adds billions to the National Debt.
I say ‘pull the plug’.
If I we in Afghanistan risking my life, while my Commander in Chief flitted from fundraiser to fundraiser and apology tour to apology tour – while procrastinating on a life and death decision……I think my morale might just suffer as well.
Claudia, It would appear that we have elected the perfect president for the UN you cover so well. His specification could have been written by the General Assembly. I wonder if food for oil was his model for Obamacare.
Sending American soldiers to fight in foreign countries is the dumbest idea ever. All you need is military/police advisers, commercial attachés, medical help, teachers and diplomats.
You can’t change the countries religions, traditions and some bad habits. Improved livelihood is the solution. Would you send a fighting force to Europe to fix some political problem? Third World countries are no different.
It’s nearly impossible to imagine that Red Hussein has any mental or emotional connection to America’s military as America’s military.
I doubt that he can even sympathize with the sort of mindset that leads one to volunteer or seek a career in the forces.
Raising soldiers’ pay and wisecracking about good photo ops is about as far as Red Hussein can reach. And I think the facts speak for themselves. In his eyes the troops are another constituency to be flattered, buddied up to and paid off.
This is a far far cry from say, GW’s visible, palpable excitement, affection and respect when among the people in uniform.
Facts are stubborn things.
Red Hussein’s basic sentiments and sympathies do not lie with America. And it is obvious to most moderately alert people.
How on earth could a character like that connect with people who are prepared to dedicate their lives to the defense of America, even unto death?
No how, that’s how.
Even if he went, what would he do or think? What possible purpose could motivate him?
It’s a non-starter.