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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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 TALK SHOW ROUNDUP 
20

GOP to Obama: Give McChrystal His Troops

McCain: Not granting request 'would be an error of historic proportions'

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(Newser) – Afghanistan was the name of the game on the talk shows today, with John McCain pointedly warning President Obama on State of the Union that sending Gen. Stanley McChrystal anything less than the 40,000 troops he's requested "would be an error of historic proportions." Lindsey Graham chimed in on Meet the Press, saying that "history will judge" Obama on the decision he makes, and that a "half-measure" would be "a weakness."

  • Minority Leader Mitch McConnell continued his party's call for more troops, telling Face the Nation "the smart thing to do here is to listen to Petraeus and McChrystal."
  • Democrat Dianne Feinstein, the Senate Intelligence Committee's chair, added to the chorus, telling This Week "violence is up," and that she didn't see how the president could not grant McChrystal's request.
  • Fox News "is a wing of the Republican Party," White House communications director Anita Dunn told CNN's Reliable Sources, standing by her slam earlier this week on the network. "Take their talking points, put them on the air. Take their research, put it on the air."

Vice President Dick Cheney waves as he boards Air Force Two at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, May 8, 2007. Left is his daughter Liz Cheney.
Vice President Dick Cheney waves as he boards Air Force Two at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, May 8, 2007. Left is his daughter Liz Cheney.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Anita Dunn in her Washington office, Friday, May 23, 2008. The White House Communications Director stood by her slam that Fox News is the communications arm of the GOP.
Anita Dunn in her Washington office, Friday, May 23, 2008. The White House Communications Director stood by her slam that Fox News is the communications arm of the GOP.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., pressed Obama today to avoid making a
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., pressed Obama today to avoid making a "historic error" in Afghanistan in a spin through CNN's "State of the Union."   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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They are widely viewed as part of the Republican Party. Take their talking points, put them on the air. Take their research, put it on the air. Fox News operates as the research or communications arm of the Republican Party. - WH Communications Director Anita Dunn

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20 comments
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RockyPneumonia
Oct 11, 09 11:25 AM CDT
And we should credit the opinions of the people who thought that GW Bush was a good choice for president...why? Reply
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+9
IN RESPONSE:
Rocket448
Oct 11, 09 11:38 AM CDT
Exactly, Rocky. This advice is surely bad advice. Mr. Obama should continue his process and make a decision based on what's best for the US, not the GOP.
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+9
IN RESPONSE:
Reader64481089
Oct 11, 09 7:35 PM CDT
The GOP "DEMANDS"...Well let us take a look at history, if we study history by theory we can avoid pit falls of the past. When Russia invaded Afghanistan, this is what they put in place in the first two weeks alone: "The force that entered Afghanistan, in addition to the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, was under command of the 40th Army and consisted of the 108th and 5th Guards Motor Rifle Divisions, the 860th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment, the 56th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade, the 36th Mixed Air Corps. Later on the 201st and 58th Motor Rifle Divisions also entered the country, along with other smaller units.[30] In all, the initial Soviet force was around 1,800 tanks, 80,000 soldiers and 2,000 AFVs. In the second week alone, Soviet aircraft had made a total of 4,000 flights into Kabul.[31] With the arrival of the two later divisions, the total Soviet force rose to over 100,000 personnel." That was just to get the party started and they, the Russians are some tough SOB's.....and they still got their a$$ handed to them, this war is not winnable, the minute the US invaded by orders of GW Bush we were never meant to win here
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+1
IN RESPONSE:
shonangreg
Oct 11, 09 9:13 PM CDT
If we ever had a chance of changing Afghan's government, and I doubt we ever did, it was at the beginning, but we lost that chance when we started another, unnecessary war and under resourced the first war. And Afghanistan has never had a strong centralized government to take over. Thinking you can defeat and then control Afghanistan militarily is like trying to fight water with a gun. There is no structure to break, and no government that controls its country to get a surrender from. There are thousands of small, local tribes that control their territory. ..................................... No, what we have to do is to rationally define our objective. Making a democratic Afghanistan does not seem do-able. Instead, what is the next step down? --------------- Keeping al Qaeda off balance or diminishing and preventing the Taliban from going international again. ------------------- The military's job is to tell the President what they need to fight the various strategies the President gives them. The President's job is to convene his advisors and give the military their job. This is how the Constitution structures our government. The President is not just a rubber stamp for the military. Anyone saying the President should simply give the general what he wants is being cowardly and unamerican.
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IN RESPONSE:
freethemall
Oct 12, 09 12:18 PM CDT
shonangreg, will you explain to me why you think it was ever our goal to "...defeat and then control Afghanistan..."? Our goal was to free the people of Afghanistan from the clutches of the Taliban, who not only brutally suppressed the populace, but also gave sanctuary to al Qaeda, who planned and executed their terrorist attack on our own country. Maybe you have forgotten that we had the support of the Afghanis (who comprised the Northern Alliance) in this endeavor. Our mistake was to neglect, and under resource our efforts there. I think that if we had kept our eye on the ball, so to speak, and not been distracted by Iraq debacle, we could have had the job in Afghanistan done by now. I fail to see the wisdom now, of walking away from our efforts there.
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