Read the whole thing here.The more President Obama examines our options in Afghanistan, the less he likes the choices he sees. But, as the old saying goes, to govern is to choose -- and he has stretched the internal debate to the breaking point.
It is evident from the length of this deliberative process and from the flood of leaks that have emerged from Kabul and Washington that the perfect course of action does not exist. Given that reality, the urgent necessity is to make a decision -- whether or not it is right.
Of course the rabid lefties are baying for Broder's scalp. What they and our feckless young president don't seem to realize is that inaction itself has consequences and, in the case of Afghanistan where we are faced with a deteriorating situation indecision can be fatal.
Obie's defenders like to pretend that he is simply and wisely considering all alternatives before acting, unlike President Bush, who they like to think acted precipitously and without thought. But Bush was anything but foolhardy and impetuous in the runup to the Iraq invasion and, as Broder points out, there has been plenty of time to consider all the available options and to gather all the pertinent information needed to choose among them.
What is left, then, is simply a President who, for whatever reason, is unable to make the kinds of decisions his office demands, who is unable to function once drawn away from a pre-ordained and rigidly held agenda. Faced with difficult choices and conflicting interests, Obama once again stands paralyzed by indecision. Frustration has been building among those who once supported this callow man and gloried in his triumph. Mr. Broder's protest is a measure of that frustration. The time for decision has long passed and now Mr. Obama must stand up and be counted. Presidents cannot vote "present".
