How Obama’s Surge Is Like Bush’s

How Obama’s Surge Is Like Bush’s – Steven Metz, The New Republic.

President Obama’s revised strategy for Afghanistan has already been pinned with the “surge” moniker, inevitably leading to comparisons with the 2007 “surge” in Iraq. Certainly there are similarities. Both were part of America’s global conflict with al Qaeda. Both revisions were compelled by a deteriorating security situation. In neither case was there a reason to believe that if the United States continued on its chosen track, the insurgents linked to al Qaeda would break ranks to join the masses of peace-seeking individuals. And both strategic revisions had dual purposes.

One purpose was to revive flagging domestic support for involvement in the conflicts. America was and is tired of its costly, frustrating wars. To re-inspire the nation, both President Bush and President Obama painted a picture of a direct threat. Bush asserted that if the radicals took over Iraq, then they would attack us “here.” Obama asserted that without an increased American effort, the Taliban will regain control of Afghanistan and again give al Qaeda sanctuary to plot attacks on the United States. From that common point, though, the two presidents diverged. President Bush propped up domestic support by trumpeting “victory,” playing on the deep American love for winning. President Obama, by contrast, tried to mollify the public’s concerns by identifying a clear point at which he intends to begin scaling down US involvement in Afghanistan – the summer of 2011. Pain is always more tolerable when there is an end in sight…

More at The New Republic.

Dr. Steven Metz is the author of Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy.