I am not a political scientist, nor do I play one on t.v.
But, in my mind--our president's discourse on our newish path forward in Afghanistan strikes me as the perfect executive straddle. To paraphrase, my (his) guts don't want to, but going with my (again, his) expert advisers.
Brilliant. Under one foot, the supportive base hears the echo of Trump's campaign stance, and under the other, detractors are shown he will listen.
If the mission shows no significant progress during Trump's tenure, he can whine that he should have listened to his gut. And--on this point I have a severe case of doubt-itis--if the situation should dramatically improve, he can crow about a presidential willingness to be swayed by the opinions of others.
Now is this political two-step shrewdly, cynically choreographed? I cannot say. What I can say serves only as a very obvious reminder. Afghanistan--well, we have slogged down this road for 16 years.
But, heck, Russia marched out after only 9.
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