"No grip", in essence, was the way in which Gen. Montgomery, with his customary short, sharp manner of speech, summed up Gen. Auchinleck's shambles in Egypt when he took over command in 1942. From the outside looking in, this applies exactly to the ramshackle 'nil-command and no-control' operation of the Obama administration. Personally, I would hesitate to put this man in charge of a parish council!
Let us start at the beginning as Russ Roberts does at Cafe Hayek and consider for a moment what this man proclaimed in his run for the presidency:
Suppose in the middle of the campaign, someone returned from the future and told you that by 2011, the President of the United States will have kept Guantanamo Bay open, launched a war against Libya, and crossed covertly into an ally’s territory to assassinate Bin Laden. Who would you think that would be? McCain or Obama?
Couldn’t be Obama. The man who was repulsed by American exceptionalism, who pledged to close Guantanamo Bay, the man who said the way to deal with bad guys is to talk to them, not attack them.
Oh dear, "what a falling off was there"! I wouldn't hold that against him, or at least, not for too long because he was not the first politician to change his mind when faced with reality. As a CIA economist told Roberts during the 2008 campaign:
when Obama becomes President, he’ll know what Bush knows (meaning horrific and frightening classified information) and he’ll do the same thing as Bush.
Mind you, Roberts offers another, alarming but very conceivable, theory as to why Obama has dropped so many of his pledges:
when you get into power, you change. It’s fun to play video games with real lives. You can’t help yourself. It’s easy to convince yourself (given that classified information) that you have no choice.
To be fair, that can only be a speculation and only the historians will tell us later how true it is. Nor, in certain circumstances would it be a bad thing; one thinks of Churchill and his abiding love for all things military - it was part of what made him such a brilliant war leader, er, so long as Alanbrooke was around to squelch his dafter ideas!
However, the clincher to the proposition that the White House would have difficulty conducting a piss up in a brewery is the shambles over the handling of the bin Laden execution (I now use that word with growing confidence). There has been a cacophony of different voices singing different songs - and it has been going on for three days. Statements, corrections, denials, retractions - yadda-yadda-non-stop-yadda! The end result is that no clear, concise - and believable - message has emanated from Washington so nobody believes a word of what they are hearing or seeing. It is also apparent that, unlike Machiavelli's famous prince, no-one fears Obama, so his subordinates feel free to tell their own tales.
So, in my best Montgomery imitation, "Fella' has no grip, couldn't command a platoon!"
A masterly summation of the current 'sitrep' in Washington.
Kind regards
Posted by: david morris | Thursday, 05 May 2011 at 18:19
In his campaign O said that he'd wind down the Iraq war but prosecute the Afghan war more vigorously, attacking Pakistan if needs be. (That's my memory of it; corrections accepted.)
He's done the third bit, attack Pakistan - with the complicity of importanant people there, no doubt, but he's done it.
As for all the lies that attended his officials' accounts of it - well, whaddya expect? About the intelligence, they have to lie - that's simple duty. About the raid, they lie by instinct, secure in the belief that their countrymen are largely gullible hicks. I wonder whether they are right?
Posted by: dearieme | Thursday, 05 May 2011 at 21:00
"In his campaign O said that he'd wind down the Iraq war..."
Actually that bit was what we in the US would call "a done deal" (of course one would have to know the previous administration had negotiated what's called a "Status of Forces Agreement" with Iraq's Maliki headed government - made for a good stump speech I guess.
That "Status of Forces Agreement" freed up trigger-pullers for Afghanistan. Fortunately too, a new UAV was just coming on line - and arguably, only the Predator made it just the least littlest bit more convenient for "up-tempoed" attacks in Pakistan (not disregarding SOF mind).
As for "the early reports" reliability? The guys who actually would know weren't (and won't be) gonna talk - while those who knew the least had to say something/anthing.
Posted by: JK | Thursday, 05 May 2011 at 22:53
Mr Duff, I have just finished reading a book about World War I in East Africa which I found fascinating and horrifying.
You may like it.
It's called "An Ice Cream War" by a man called William Boyd (NOT Hopalong Cassidy).
I have read a couple of his books and they are very good.
Posted by: Sassyandra | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 02:41
Mrs Clinton now says she has "no idea" when the photo of O's cabal was taken, and that her hand gesture "may have been" related to her allergies.
The Clinton instinct to lie has survived the ordeal, I see.
Posted by: dearieme | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 09:20
'“He was retreating,” a move that was regarded as resistance, a U.S. official briefed on the operation said.'
Is all this fandango expressly designed for my entertainment?
Posted by: dearieme | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 09:42
I don't understand this interest in BL's behavior at the compound. Was he retreating, was he unarmed, was his wife acting like a human shield? Who cares? He was a wanted combatant actively engaged in acts or war, who in fact started the war when he ordered the incineration of 3,000 or my countrymen. And we executed him. Was he supposed to be read his Miranda rights?
Relax and do what we do -- enjoy a Bin Laden: 2 shots and a splash of water.
Posted by: Dom | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 13:19
Think I'll join you Dom.
Posted by: JK | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 17:14
David Morris, thank you, kind, sir!
DM, sometimes I worry about your galloping cynicism, it can't be good for an old gentlemen of your advanced years!
Dom and JK, I think I'll join you both.
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 20:09
Andra, thanks for the book tip - I have heard of Boyd but not read any of his books.
By the way, you may call me David - it will not require us to get engaged!
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 06 May 2011 at 20:38
Ah, sorry sir. I was brought up to respect my elders.
As I am the junior type person here, however, it is perfectly in order for you to refer to me as Andra.
You will be pleased to know I have just checked my bush and it is galloping upwards at a rate of knots.
Posted by: Sassyandra | Saturday, 07 May 2011 at 07:59
"to respect my elders". Oh cru-el, cru-el!
"I have just checked my bush". Just for a milisecond there I had to pause, as I frequently do with some of JK's more elliptical comments, and wonder exactly what you meant, but then the penny dropped! I am delighted. Remember, next weekend, if SoD shows me how to do it the internet will be flooded with photos of me in my sarong. The accessories are proving a problem, I mean, in this day and age where do you find a string vest?
Posted by: David Duff | Saturday, 07 May 2011 at 10:28