Obama's Shifting Rhetoric on Afghanistan

As Rachel Abrams noted earlier, President Obama told ABC news on Thursday:

"I'm always worried about using the word 'victory' [regarding Afghanistan] because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur."

I was told recently by a well-informed government source that the "Holbrooke-Clinton-Obama" messaging on Afghanistan is that our goal is to "dismantle, destroy, and defeat" al Qaeda--and that government officials have been explicitly told not to use the word "victory" when speaking of our objectives in Afghanistan. When asked how "defeat" of al Qaeda differed from "victory" over al Qaeda, the source said it wasn't clear. Obama didn't always shy away from saying that we need to "so we have a comprehensive strategy and the necessary resources to meet clear and achievable objectives in Afghanistan and the region" "We're involved in two wars," Obama says, "one war that we must win against those who killed in cold blood 3,000 Americans--al Qaeda in Afghanistan, the northwest provinces of Pakistan. That is a war that we must win, and we must incapacitate those who would do America harm. But we're also involved in a war that I believe should have never been fought and should have never been authorized, should have never been waged in Iraq, and that war has to come to an end." "meet clear and achievable objectives in Afghanistan and the region." TEXT "This is a war that we have to win." For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.