Fwd: MyHeritage.org: New Leader, Same Mission in Afghanistan

June 24, 2010 | By Amanda J. Reinecker New Leader, Same Mission in Afghanistan There's been a change of command in Afghanistan. After his critical remarks about the President and his staff were published in Rolling Stone magazine, Gen. Stanley McChrystal was summoned to The White House to face his boss, Commander in Chief Obama. The outcome from their meeting: McChrystal is no longer in charge. During his Rose Garden press conference, the President explained his decision to remove McChrystal from his post: The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. It undermines the civilian control of the military that us at the core of our democratic system. And it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan. Shortly thereafter, Obama tapped Gen. David Petraeus to succeed McChrystal. Petraeus, who orchestrated the turnaround in Iraq, currently heads the U.S. Central Command, which includes all of South Asia and the Middle East. As the American commander in Iraq, Petraeus changed the course of the war by implementing the troop "surge." Though he faces confirmation by the Senate (the hearing is expected to take place no later than next Tuesday), there is no question that Gen. Petreaus is qualified for the job. "Naming the very able Gen. David Petraeus to replace Gen. McChrystal may help heal this sad state of affairs, and we hope it does," argues Heritage vice President Kim Holmes. "But the drama behind Gen. Stanley McChrystal's firing masks a far greater and troubling issue: Is the Obama administration fully committed to victory in Afghanistan?" President Obama insisted that McChrystal's dismissal "was a change in personnel, not in policy." But the President has also established an arbitrary deadline for removal of forces – a bad policy, especially considering the poor conditions on the ground in Afghanistan. "The timeline," Heritage President Ed Feulner explains, "appears to be putting tremendous unnecessary pressure on our armed forces to accomplish their task: victory on the ground. We don't need an artificial timeline for withdrawal. We need a strategy for victory." June has become the deadliest month for coalition forces over the almost nine-year conflict.  And U.S. and NATO casualties are expected to rise as we move deeper into the Kandahar offensive. The stakes are very high. Victory – not meeting arbitrary deadlines – should be our objective. As Holmes explains, "winning in Afghanistan is directly related to preventing another '9/11' and it truly is the central front in the war on terrorists." Victory can only be achieved once Afghanistan is a stable nation capable of governing itself and defending itself from the Taliban and other terrorists. If we pull out before this is achieved, than we face a danger far greater than anything we're seeing now. Gen. Patraeus is a good man for the job, and we have every shred of confidence in his ability to lead. But as Heritage national security expert James Carafano argues, this war isn't about the man. It's about the mission. And the mission has to be victory. However long that might take.  Heritage Foundation experts were able to refocus the debate from personnel to strategy and the need for victory through over 25 radio and television interviews in less than 24 hours. Join the National Town Hall Discussion on Deficits This Saturday! "Reducing spending is possible, necessary, and sufficient to put the nation's fiscal house back in order," writes Heritage's Kathryn Nix. And this is exactly the message that thousands of Americans across the country are prepared to deliver this Saturday, June 26, at AmericaSpeaks' National Town Meeting. AmericaSpeaks is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization whose mission is to "engage citizens in the public decisions." Nineteen cities across the country will host these town hall meetings. The meetings are intended to open a discussion about the federal budget, the devastating effects that Washington's growing deficits will have on the U.S. economy, and the best ways to address the fiscal crisis — before it is too late. » Learn more about the upcoming National Town hall meeting and find out if there's a meeting near you! Heritage Foundation experts have been busy at work exposing the facts about excessive federal spending and taxation; debunking the myths that both practices help to balance the deficit; and outlining ways to truly boost the economy and individual prosperity, both of which call for reduced spending and taxation. » Check out The Heritage Foundation's one-page fact sheet on tax increases We encourage you to participate in this national discussion on Saturday, June 26. Join thousands of Americans in finding common ground on tough choices about our federal budget. Americans from across the country will come together to weigh in on strategies to ensure a sustainable fiscal future and a strong economic recovery. Many of these ideas, strategies and tough choices are encapsulated in the Spending, Deficit, and Debt Control Act authored by Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), policy analyst Brian Riedl discussed last fall. Many of the decisions our lawmakers are making are too costly: bailouts, "stimulus" spending, the health care takeover. We conservatives can't afford not to speak up! > Other Heritage Work of Note The House Rules Committee met this week to figure out how to push through the DISCLOSE Act, which would impose new regulations on political speech. "True to form," writes Heritage legal scholar Hans von Spakovsky, "the committee kept the public out of a hearing about a bill intended to promote 'transparency' in elections." Despite objections from conservatives, the liberals on the committee decided that one hour was sufficient time to debate the bill. "This bill is intended to silence those whose political views the liberals don't like," argues von Skapovsky, who cites several examples. The death tax, which does not exist at present, is currently set to come back from the dead on January 1, 2011. The tax on dying will increase from zero percent to 55 percent overnight. But Congress is intent on making a bad problem worse. Heritage tax expert Curtis Dubay explores a liberal bill that would drastically increase the death tax at the worst possible time. "Such a policy move would be a body blow to a weakly recovering economy and would clearly signal to everyone that this Congress has no intention of breathing new life into the American dream," he explains. Instead of raising taxes further still, Congress should kill the death tax once and for all. Watch our videos on the death tax! > In Other News European countries are making hard choices about runaway spending on social programs—choices the United States has failed to make. Britain's new government intends to raise the country's retirement age to 66, while a French proposal to raise it to 62 has provoked backlash from union members used to cushy benefits. The Denver Post reports: House Republicans failed in a push Wednesday to force the release of White House documents related to potential job offers made to two Democratic Senate primary challengers, Andrew Romanoff in Colorado and Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania. In the latest silliness from environmentalists, Japan's government is urging citizens to change their sleeping patterns to curb carbon emissions. Pakistan sentenced five American Muslim men from Northern Virginia to 10 years in prison for conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks. Officials believe they traveled to Pakistan to fight American forces in Afghanistan. A U.S. judge has denied a stay on his decision that blocked the Obama administration from enforcing a moratorium on oil drilling. This decision serves as a relief to coastal states that would have suffered severe economic repercussion had the ban continued. According to the Wall Street Journal, BP and other big oil companies based their oil-spill cleanup plans on faulty government projections.  Amanda Reinecker is a writer for MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Nathaniel Ward, the Editor of MyHeritage.org, and Stephen Congdon, a Heritage intern, contributed to this report.  Donate    |   Heritage on Facebook View as HTML  |   Update Your Profile   |   Unsubscribe