Joe Biden, Another Big Fucking I Told You So

[babylonsister]

Joe Biden, Another Big Fucking I Told You So
By: emptywheel Tuesday June 22, 2010 6:29 am


The Toobz are a-tizzy this morning with a Rolling Stone article revealing that Stanley McChrystal said mean things about Joe Biden–both publicly and behind his back.

Last fall, during the question-and-answer session following a speech he gave in London, McChrystal dismissed the counterterrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as “shortsighted,” saying it would lead to a state of “Chaos-istan.” The remarks earned him a smackdown from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force One. The message to McChrystal seemed clear: Shut the fuck up, and keep a lower profile.

Now, flipping through printout cards of his speech in Paris, McChrystal wonders aloud what Biden question he might get today, and how he should respond. “I never know what’s going to pop out until I’m up there, that’s the problem,” he says. Then, unable to help themselves, he and his staff imagine the general dismissing the vice president with a good one-liner.

“Are you asking about Vice President Biden?” McChrystal says with a laugh. “Who’s that?”

“Biden?” suggests a top adviser. “Did you say: Bite Me?”

But the article is far more subtle than the tizzy lets on. And the tizzy ignores the real moral of the story, revealed after five pages of eye-popping revelations. McChrystal’s counter-insurgency plan is failing. It’s failing not because some of his aides said mean things about Biden, and not because he’s got a long-running spat with Karl Eikenberry, our Ambassador to Afghanistan. It’s failing because the Special Ops guys, whom McChrystal led killing bunches of people in Iraq, are not hard-wired to win hearts and minds. It’s failing because both the tools at McChrystal’s disposal (a bunch of JSOC guys) and the conditions on the ground mean counterterrorism, not counterinsurgency, is the best approach: precisely what Biden argued during the Afghan policy review.

more...

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/06/22/joe-biden-once-again-proved-fucking-right/

[Tansy_Gold]

1. I'll lend Joe my rubber stamp. . . .

[JuniperLea]

2. He can't be blamed for the failure now... eom

[phantom power]

3. Nobody could possibly have predicted....

that a war of occupation would be a bad idea, and the theory that we, America, would somehow succeed where every other occupier in history failed, was just rank American Exceptionalism.

:eyes:

[kiva]

4. History as a

a valuable guide? :shrug: Who knew?

[lark]

20. In other words - just more poor judgement

from loser ass McChrystal. I'm glad he's gone, glad Obama stood up for discipline and for himself as Commander in Chief and his cabinet.

[frylock]

26. obama is just as guilty of using poor judgement..

his escalation of the war in afghanistan will prove to be an utter failure, regardless of the strategy.

[Ignis]

22. Gosh, it's not like Afghanistan has ever had this problem before.

[tekisui]

5. Biden has been right on Afghanistan for years.

I wish Obama had listened to Biden and Eikenberry instead of McAsshole.

[Uzybone]

9. +10000

[vaberella]

6. Well now...Biden is the man. n/t

[gateley]

7. I hope Obama listens to Joe in the future. nt

[mzmolly]

12. Indeed.

Biden has been correct, the general ... not so much.

[laughingliberal]

24. Yep. nt

[davidpdx]

8. Obama should have Biden in the room when he fires him

[gateley]

10. I'd like Obama to call in Biden to ask pointed questions about the 'operation' there

essentially getting McChrystal to admit they're not accomplishing their "goal" and that his plan just isn't working.

[Justitia]

13. I would pay big bucks to see that on pay-per-view!!! -eom

[mzmolly]

11. Biden for General!

;)

[Robert DAH Bruce]

14. K&R!

[eridani]

15. I've had my disagreements with Biden on many issues, but I think he's right on this one

There is no way for a foreign army to control a country short of wiping out a big chunk of the population and directly imposing a terrorist regime.

[Dr Morbius]

16. It's also failing for a simple, mostly overlooked reason.

If you send an army to a foreign nation, that army will find enemies to kill. It's inevitable.

[Jennicut]

17. McChrystal seemed afraid that he never knew what questions Joe might ask him.

As if he was above questioning by the VP of the United States. If he stays, I hope he has to answer to Joe's questioning frequently.

[jillan]

18. Biden can Bite Me anytime! Biden for Vampire!!

Seriously - I wish Obama would've listened to Biden on Afghanistan - but he didn't and this is where we are today.

[autorank]

19. k*r Joltin' Joe is right, was right - to be commended

I've been telling people that when they discuss this. Biden and General/Ambassador Eikenberry were
completely on target when they said Karzai was a loser and nothing would happen if he got in. But
election fraud was rewarded and here we are.

Way to go Biden!

[florida08]

21. Big Kick

I remember when the VPOTUS warned us that this war would get worse and more troops would die. Looks like this year will the worse one yet. Allies are pulling out.

This week the UN revealed that violence had risen drastically in 2010, while overall security “has not improved”. In a quarterly report, it said roadside bomb attacks were up by 94 per cent in the first four months of the year and assassinations had increased by 45 per cent. The number of complex suicide bombings had doubled to roughly two per month.

All of this bad news comes as international forces face a race against time. Nato has announced it soon wants to begin handing over responsibility for security in some provinces to the Afghan government. The US president Barack Obama, is also due to start pulling out his troops in July 2011. More than 1,120 US service members have died in the war.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100622/FOREIGN/706219902/1002/NEWS

Staying another year will not improve the conditions there. The country's GDP is around 10 billion. We spent 30 billion last year just in Afghanistan.

[DonCoquixote]

23. Biden 2016!

I do not care if he is old, he is right.

But the powers that be will want Hillary in.

[laughingliberal]

25. K & R (too late to R but virtual R, anyway). eom