9/21: Pentagon Push-Back

The blogosphere is buzzing about Gen. Stanley McChrystal's leaked Afghanistan memo, in which he warns that the conflict "will likely result in failure" unless the Obama admin. sends more troops to the region. Liberal bloggers reacted to McChrystal's policy recommendations with skepticism. Kevin Drum writes: "I gotta ask: considering the unrelentingly grim assessment in the rest of his report, is it really likely that a few more troops and a change in emphasis toward COIN and away from counterterrorism will bear results within 12 months? Because that's what McChrystal says the timeframe is."

Meanwhile, conservative bloggers are accusing Obama of "going wobbly on his commitment to the [Afghanistan] war effort" because of growing skepticism among cong. Dems. They're urging Obama to stop paying attention to "domestic politics" and start following McChrystal's recommendations.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Several conservative bloggers (Hemingway, Baker) were impressed by MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R) speech at the Value Voters Summit. However, another conservative blogger thinks the most noteworthy story from the conference was ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee's (R) strong performance in the straw poll. Meanwhile, liberal bloggers (Sudbay, Benen, Partridge) are buzzing about MO SEN candidate Roy Blunt's (R) speech, in which he told a joke that involved monkeys.
• Liberal bloggers (Drum, publius, Aravosis) are cautiously optimistic about reports that the FCC plans to propose new rules "that would force Internet providers to treat all Web traffic equally."
• Conservative bloggers (Hinderaker, Mirengoff) continue to criticize Obama for scrapping George W. Bush's proposed antiballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe. Liberal bloggers (van der Linden, Phoenix Woman) continue to defend Obama's decision and hit back at his critics.
• Conservative bloggers (Podhoretz, Goldberg, Levin, Miller, Adler, Wehner, Johnson, Jessup) are paying their respects to Irving Kristol, the "godfather of neoconservatism" who died Friday at the age of 89.

MCCHRYSTAL: What's The Strategy?

Liberal bloggers reacted to McChrystal's troop recommendations with skepticism, with some complaining that the U.S. has no business conducting a counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan in the first place:

• Mother Jones' Drum: "I gotta ask: considering the unrelentingly grim assessment in the rest of his report, is it really likely that a few more troops and a change in emphasis toward COIN and away from counterterrorism will bear results within 12 months? Because that's what McChrystal says the timeframe is. That hardly seems likely to me."
• Democracy Arsenal's Michael Cohen: "Um, if the Afghan government is riddled with corruption and ISAF doesn't understand how to prosecute a counter-insurgency strategy...why exactly are we prosecuting a counter-insurgency strategy. I mean how exactly are we supposed to stand up an Afghan government if that same government is seen as corrupt and illegitimate? And why does McChrystal believe that the problems with ISAF and embracing COIN doctrine will be turned around in 12 months?"
• MyDD's Charles Lemos: "'The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials, and ISAF's own errors,' General McChrystal says, referring to NATO, 'have given Afghans little reason to support their government.' All the more reason to pursue a counter-terrorism strategy rather than this bloody counter-insurgency strategy. Winning over the fractious and diverse Afghan population to the cause of a greater Afghanistan is a task that eluded the Afghans themselves. The reality we face is no different than the one the Soviets faced. The Taliban like the Mujahideen before have a long-term strategy. [...] The Taliban will bleed us dry. Both in blood and in coin."
• Firedoglake's Siun: "It's clearly time for a complete re-evaluation of just why we are there at all -- and what, if anything might be done right. While the generals will of course continue to push for control, our civilian leadership must insist on something more than a full employment program for the four stars."

MCCHRYSTAL II: Listen To Your Friend, Stanley McChrystal; He's A Cool Dude!

Conservatives are urging Obama to follow McChrystal's recommendations:

• Hot Air's Ed Morrissey: "The left wing of [Obama's] party wants to retreat from both Afghanistan and Iraq, and this report gives them the bright line in the sand they need. The GOP have been very supportive on Afghanistan, with a few notable exceptions (George Will being the most prominent). The center bought Obama as something other than a typical liberal shrinking violet on American power based on his campaign pledges to fight and win in Afghanistan. A retreat might lose the GOP, which he never had except on this issue, and win back his left wing, but it will absolutely undermine his credibility with the center and further erode his political standing."
• The Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb: "It's probably not a coincidence that the McChrystal report leaked just as Obama looked like he was going wobbly on his commitment to the war effort. Democrats on the Hill are already threatening to obstruct funding for additional U.S. forces -- [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, [MI Sen. Carl] Levin, and [PA Rep. John] Murtha among them -- and Obama was skeptical of the need for more U.S. forces on the Sunday shows yesterday. [...] McChrystal leaves no doubt about what must be done if Obama is to keep his word -- more troops and very soon. The president cannot delay that decision any more -- not for the sake of his health care initiative or anything else. And in any case, as a matter of politics the best thing for Obama and the Democrats is to win the war."
• Commentary's Jennifer Rubin: "It's daunting to make a tough national-security call in the face of domestic opposition from your own party. But at this point it seems that it's only domestic politics -- not a lack of facts or a failure to receive a recommendation -- that's holding back the president. [...W]hat is evident by the McChrystal recommendation (and by the apparent need to leak its contents, stemming no doubt from frustration with the White House stall) is that there is good reason to be concerned that the president's failure to make a prompt decision may in and of itself impair our ability to succeed. The president may not like what he's hearing [...], but he owes the country a timely decision -- or at least an honest explanation as to why he finds it so hard to make up his mind."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: What Makes Us Liberal Or Conservative?

The New Republic's Isaac Chotiner:

"Irving Kristol's most famous comment was probably that 'a neoconservative was a liberal who had been mugged by reality.' The obits for Kristol, who passed away yesterday, have tended to focus on his journey across the idelogical spectrum, and thus -- like the above comment -- invite the reader to speculate on what in fact makes us liberal or conservative. In Barry Gewen's nice New York Times obit, there appears another comment from Kristol, and I think that one's reaction to this remark is probably telling.

Liberalism led to 'moral anarchy,' Mr. Kristol said, arguing the point with one of his wisecracking encapsulizations: 'In the United States today, the law insists that an 18-year-old girl has the right to public fornication in a pornographic movie -- but only if she is paid the minimum wage.'

If you find this witty (and, more importantly, rich with irony) you are probably a conservative. If you find it rather banal, you are probably a liberal."

LEST WE FORGET: Good Fathering

From Overheard in New York:

Dad: So, what are you doing tomorrow night?
Son: Oh, you know, a usual Saturday night... Pizza, beer, and strippers.
Dad: Okay, can you just pick one of those, because all of those are unhealthy.