Barack Obama's Afghanistan play book- Pakistan stays on payroll (Phase One)

An Afghan man looks on as he stands at a bus stop in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)
AP

The time has finally come for President Barack Obama to lay out his plans for Afghanistan, which the public will get a glimpse of on Tuesday at 8 PM at West Point. Why has it taken so long? It's a new administration, different administrations have their own way and style of doing things. President Bush had more of a "we are America we can do what we want  style" that was very effective but left us with many enemies because of a lack of diplomacy and President Obama is a thinker, using more of a diplomatic approach, he likes  to get as much information as possible before making hasty decisions however tough they may be. I do appreciate that fact about President Obama.. The China Asia tour  and the recent State Dinner for Prime Minister Singh  were all part of the information gathering, you have to get to know your new neighbors.

In this case the delay(which was not really a delay at all), it was to make sure for the most part Pakistan and the U.S. are on the the same page. That's just how Pakistan operates, part of their history with U.S.  after  9/11 and Operation Enduring Freedom kicked off. There known for being wheelers and dealers with the U.S. diplomatically but  we have  a solid agreement now with not much wiggle room. The other part to the equation is the Obama administration can not afford politically because of the current U.S.  economic situation any long drawn out military operation. 

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I want to back track a little. Coming off of the growth and prosperity that the United States enjoyed during former President Bill Clinton the U.S. was flush with cash.  Under Clinton, the United States had a projected federal budget surplus for the first time since 1969.  When President George W. Bush began his two terms the U.S. economy was in hyper drive. Little did George W. Bush know or for that matter the chief economists(they might have known, short selling housing loan derivatives)  at the time that a combination of military operations(Desert Storm, Afghanistan) and the housing bubble would evaporate most of  the financial gains the U.S, made during the Bill Clinton presidency and send the economy into a coma. 

So that's where we are today. The Barack Obama administration realizes that from a political stand point they can not keep blaming George W. Bush for Afghanistan(conservative media has made sure of that) . Afghanistan is a pain in the you know what for President Obama that he inherited. The fact remains he's President now so he has to deal with it the best he can.  While trying to juggle an economy that has left the average citizen on a respirator financially. That was the first order of business President Barack Obama and his administration had to hammer out before they could begin any serious military operations in Afghanistan. 

The diplomacy we used when George W. Bush's administration  first sent troops to Afghanistan involved having to pay off Pakistan to use their land for military operations. Congress passed some new measures recently. For a couple months now U.S. diplomats, Congress  and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her recent trip to Pakistan have been working out the final pieces of the agreement before we send more troops which was part of the George W. Bush plan.

End Game: I prefer to  remain fair and objective when discussing geopolitical issues because of their sensitive nature. When I discuss subjects like the State Dinner crashers that's a different ball game, I have a little  fun with those(even though I think the public deserves an explanation), while still getting a meaningful message across. 

(Without revealing too many secrets) First I would like to point out that laying politics aside if the U.S. was not in such an economic bind right now we would not be having this national debate on Afghanistan. When looked at objectively from a geopolitical stand point the Bush, Cheney, and Powell decision to invade Afghanistan was not as bad as some far left leaning Democrats make it out to be.

Do me a favor open this  world map on your computer and take a look at Afghanistan and all the surrounding countries  in a seperate window (click on map to enlarge).  Afghanistan, the sweet jewel that shares a border with Iran(uranium enrichment?), Pakistan, and from Afghanistan we are able to monitor a budding Chinese and Indian relationship. Did you look at the map? It's truly a testament to America's strength that we are able to continue our presence here. Almost like the United States' first colony when you think about it (keep that a secret). Afghanistan will be a 21st century colony, military personnel will not do long tours of duty that will anger the native population, the hopes are that a small force with mostly CIA and diplomats to maintain order will be positioned there.

So, the result is we are going to keep a small military presence in Afghanistan for the time being, we will help their country stabilize and work on the drug problem, and Pakistan will go along with it because they like peace too as well as the economic package they will continue to receive for the time being. The U.S. gets to have a highly influential diplomatic base of operations in the region that will be secured by a small multi-national force. 

The military plan will be  to corner the Taliban at the Afghanistan and Pakistan border and then send in surges of troops and drone air craft to save U.S lives until they give up or they are gone. Pakistan may continue to complain about the U.S. invading their airspace in hopes of a long term deal with the U.S. to help maintain order in the region.

The Real End Game: The real end game will be which politicians get credit for Afghanistan. Will it be names like Bush, Cheney, and Powell who helped initiate what some people are calling the New World Order(keep that a secret) with Afghanistan, which is for all intents and purposes America's first  21st century colony or will it be Johnny-come-latelies. President Barack Obama's long delay in making the decision and his nationally televised TV appearance virtually guarantees he will get much of the credit for stabilizing the area. Will he share some of that credit ?, he probably will. Sure there will be a few bumps in the road, Pakistan wants this or Afghanistan did that, but the only way this does not go down is if U.S. troops decide to disobey orders.  Read Shooter four police officers or Tiger Woods crash 911 call

Afghanistan should be a symbol of pride America, we are finally on the map. 

Pakistans view