Hotline After Dark -- Defensive Politics
"World News", "Evening News" and "Nightly News" led with swine flu.
Pundits widely discussed friction between Pres. Obama's military and political advisers over Afghanistan 10/20 p.m.
Weekly Standard's Kristol, on differing statements from WH CoS Rahm Emanuel and Defense Sec. Robert Gates on Afghanistan: "The White House staff tried to hijack this decision, in my view, maybe with the president's blessing, maybe not, because they do not want President Obama to commit fully to the war in Afghanistan. It is very clear."
Kristol: "I believe there is a pretty big rift now between the White House staff and the Defense Department from top to bottom, civilian and military and most of the foreign policy professionals who don't think we can afford to make a half-baked commitment to Afghanistan or pull out. I think President Obama will overrule his White House staff and go with Secretary Gates and the uniform military. ... Suddenly a bunch of political guys in the White House are saying, 'Oh, the polls are a little shaky, let's send half the number of troops.' The military really thinks this is not the way to make policy" ("Special Report," FNC, 10/20).
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) : "I want to say that Senator John Kerry did an amazing job on this, standing with Karzai, talking to him, and I think making sure that the way forward is better than what has gone on in the past. ... I think the president is handling this just right, because he has already doubled the troops in Afghanistan. So, the question is, where do we go from here? ... We have to make sure that we are not sending too many troops, rather than training more Afghan troops, because the people in Afghanistan dislike the Taliban immensely."
More Boxer: "I think this president is listening to General McChrystal. I think he's listening to people up and down the chain of command, including, of course, those in civilian life, Secretary Gates, and Vice President Biden, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton. And I think that's appropriate" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/20).
After the jump, more on Obama's decision-making over Afghanistan.
(ABBY LIVINGSTON)
Ex-Deputy Asst. Defense Sec. K.T. McFarland: "It's a very political decision he's now making. If you look at the pictures of who's in the White House situation room, I worked in the White House situation room for seven years. Never did you have the press secretary in on war council meetings. Never did you have political advisors there" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 10/20).
Liz Cheney, on whether the left-base is a factor in Obama's delayed-decision: "There is no question. ... You really have a split now, it looks like, between the political people who advise the president and who the White House likes to have talk about national security policy, and you know, the generals and the foreign policy people, and now Secretary Gates, coming out and saying we can't wait any longer" ("Hannity," FNC, 10/20).
PRESSURE, PUSHING DOWN ON ME, PRESSING DOWN ON YOU
Obama's deliberative process got mixed reviews on cable 10/20 p.m.
RNC chair Michael Steele: "I wish he'd apply that same principle to the health care debate, quite honestly. I wish he would approach the health care the same way he's approaching the seriousness of Afghanistan. ... I appreciate the president taking this approach and really trying to find the smartest way to win this thing. It starts by listening to those generals and giving them the support that they need" ("Situation Room," CNN, 10/20).
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI): "The president is taking the time, being deliberate, looking at a very complex, comprehensive challenge. It's not just troops. It's civilian advisers. It's the capacity of local government. It's international support. It's the situation in Pakistan. All these things have to be weighed very carefully, and he's doing that" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/20).
Military writer Thomas Ricks, on Obama's deliberations: "I'm an Obama fan, and I personally find it demoralizing, how he has handled this. I don't think you're hearing it so much among the troops who are too busy doing other stuff like cleaning weapons and driving trucks. But among the generals, there's a sense of unease that they thought Obama had made the deal back in March and then seemed to revisit everything."
More Ricks: "And they kept on giving these announcements from the White House: We're reviewing assumptions that might be myths. This is pretty insulting to people who have been working on this intensely for several years. ... Public is definitely a problem. It makes life much harder, but there's a point at which deliberation becomes dithering. And I think Obama probably passed that point a while ago" ("Situation Room," CNN, 10/20).
