Obama on Afghanistan -Disappointing or Cause For Hope

Michael Yon come down on disappointing. See Obama on Afghanistan: Disappointing . But Yon to his credit points out that the British and American military on the ground are more optimistic.

Quoting a British Officer


“An impressive statement of intent – I particularly liked the bits about bearing down on Afghan corruption and corruption in how USAID money is spent. The speech inspires confidence and, as he is not Bush, it could encourage others to come to the party in a more meaningful way.
I don’t mean any offence about Bush as I for one see history judging him more favorably than contemporary commentators it’s just that the Europeans might follow Obama in a way that they never would Bush.”

First let me say I am not at all sure that Europeans are going to give more to Obama than Bush. I am a skeptic on that regard.

However at this point I side on the more optimistic side. From reports he very much went against his own VP on this and that is of some significance