>SNIP
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>>>Right now, I would be surprised if US pool out from there in less then 5 years at least. Unfortunately Obama bought (or was forced) into folowing CIA/Military lead into yet another disaster. I did have some hope he will have some strenght to break away from all that,
>>>but he is apparently powerless. (Just as any recent US president for that matter).
>>>BTW, I could not believe he coined Bush wars as 'Just'.
>>>I wld not be surprised if I had heard Bill Clinton saying such a nonsense with his great smile, charm & confidence {g}, but it came as great dissapointment hearing it from Obama :( He is surelly not the first (or last) politician to justify war, but he is certainly the first doing it at Nobel price for peace acceptance ceremony.
>>>Paints very sad picture all together.
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>>Unsurprisingly, I have a more positive view of Obama's position. None of the options he has available in Afghanistan are good ones. If he pulls us out quickly there will be a howling chorus of "cut and run." If he lets it be known we will hang around until every last person is satisfied, it really will be failing to learn from the lessons of Vietnam. Personally I think splitting the difference may prove to be the wise decision. He had to get the attention of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which he did. My very strong suspicion is he knows about some things you and I don't about where key Al Qauda and Taliban leaders are. Now that he has taken the diplomatic gloves off, no one can complain too loudly if we go in and take them off the board, by whatever means necessary. If that happens it will end a lot of the hand-wringing about our mission there.
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>>He didn't start this war, he inherited it -- thanks, pardner -- but now with the 30,000 troop surge it is his war. I give him credit for acting as such. He is many things to many people, but one thing he is not is a whiner. Nearly a year into his presidency, even with some disappointments and an opposition whose vociferousness has surprised me, I am still glad he is our leader. The grades are not in yet. He has taken on several major initiatives and we don't know yet how any of them are going to turn out. "Wait and see" isn't always a copout. In this case I think it's the reasonable outlook.
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>>The Peace Prize was very strange. Even Obama concedes he hasn't earned it yet. Not to mention the irony of the leader of a country fighting two wars accepting a peace prize. If you read what he said, though, he did not sound happy in any way to be at war. He said they are sometimes necessary. His long term hope is clearly for peace.
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>>Here is an example of what he has to deal with. There was some tut-tutting from the Norwegians that he quickly returned to Washington and didn't stay in Copenhagen for the traditional post-ceremony events. Just a couple of months ago he was reamed by some in the U.S. for leaving Washington for a day and a half to try to bring the 2016 Olympics to the U.S. "How can he POSSIBLY gallivant off to Europe when the health care and Afghanistan debates are at a key moment?!" Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Another thing I like about him is that he doesn't seem thin skinned about it. He has a healthy sense of humor and a great wife, which I'm sure help.
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>Believe it or not, I agree with you. It is more likely (read that as a 'given') that he made a compromise not with the CIA or hidden people pulling the strings as Serge supposed, but rather with his morals, political expediency, the lives of our soldiers, and the security of this nation (I say that as a compliment because that is the reality of the life of our presidents and all leaders) based on information he gained once he attained office.
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>I think Obama went into office with clear goals and is forced, due to national interests, to set aside, postpone, or compromise on some of those goals for now. I disagree with much of what he has done - in some cases it is more with how his decisions were carried out and not so much with his decisions per say - but I really believe that he is making decisions based on information the public does not have. There is also much of what he has done that I agree with.
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>He was not my first choice for president, but neither was McCain. We have to deal with who attains office as we have in all previous elections. As usual, most Presidents are not shaped by their own policies and goals, but rather with the situations forced upon them and how they deal with those.

It is nice to be in accord with you once in a while ;-)

I think all Presidents are forced off their agendas by events beyond their control. As global interests continue to merge this will probably only increase. In fairness, he never really had a chance to enact his agenda. (If he had one, said snarkily). 9/11 happened less than eight months after he was inaugurated.

Where have you been, anyway? I have not been on as much myself lately but have not seen many posts from you in a while. Busy busy busy with work, or something else?