Word: cordesman
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...carries high stakes for the thousands of Americans he's ordering into harm's way as well as for Afghanistan itself. But there's one more consequence he's unlikely to mention but can't avoid. The speech will underscore Obama's ownership of the Afghan mission, says Anthony Cordesman, a military scholar with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. By 9 p.m. E.T., Cordesman says, Obama will "have to take personal responsibility for the outcome of the war ... betting his historical reputation and second term on the outcome...
There are costs associated with delay, just as there are costs in making the wrong decision. "Each day that passes erodes domestic and foreign support for the war," Anthony Cordesman, a military expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on Thursday. What Obama ultimately decides and how he shares it with the world "will be one of the defining acts of his presidency, and its ultimate success may well determine whether he has a second term...
...Both Riedel and Anthony Cordesman, a military expert who has been advising McChrystal, mentioned Vietnam in their remarks to an audience at the Brookings Institution last week. That's a ghost that strikes fear into the heart of many Democrats, who fear Obama may be treading down the same path in Afghanistan that President Johnson followed to political ruin - for him and his party - in Vietnam. "What I found, being in Afghanistan, was all too familiar of problems not only in Iraq but in Vietnam years ago," Cordesman said. "We take the insurgency, and we define it in terms...
...Cordesman warns that those looking to cry foul already have plenty of material to work with. "Karzai has spent months trying to exploit traditional ties and allegiances by buying bloc votes from ex-warlords, local leaders, and power brokers," Cordesman noted in emailed comments. "The joke is that he has promised governorships to three times more such leaders than there are provinces. The reality is that Karzai's top running mates are the equivalent of warlords, and he [has] done everything possible to buy the election long before the vote will actually occur. As a result, the real question...
...likely to leave the U.S. facing a tricky political environment for its counterinsurgency strategy. "No one doubts that any future Karzai government will still be tied to corruption, favoritism, and power brokers - with links to organized crime, narcotics trafficking, and officials who sometimes have links to the Taliban," says Cordesman. On the other hand, "If Abdullah should win, a man who has never governed or administered any significant body will take over. Just as would be the case with Karzai, Abdullah will then be faced with ministries that lack capacity, are corrupt, that do not serve most Afghans outside Kabul...