The commanding general in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, has asked President Obama for 40,000 more troops to contain the Taliban. So far the president has not agreed to send those forces, saying this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We're not going to make a decision about any further troop deployments until we know what exactly is our strategy, what are the tactics, how would troops be used, can we justify taking those steps? And I'm going to be asking some very hard questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Tuesday there were reports that Gen. McChrystal may quit if he does not get the troops he needs. "The Factor" has been unable to confirm that, but the McClatchy news service printed it.
There is no question that the war in Afghanistan is not going well. There are three reasons why.
First, the Afghan government, led by Hamid Karzai, is corrupt. Many Afghans deeply distrust Karzai and his confederates.
Second, there are not enough NATO troops to protect the everyday Afghan from the Taliban, so the terrorists rule the night.
And three, Afghan tradition does not encourage democracy. It is a tribal country. There is absolutely no loyalty to the USA or NATO. So we are really up against it in that country.
The Taliban has all the money it needs because of drug dealing and it can pay young men to commit murder. The Afghan army is weak and disorganized, even after eight years of NATO's presence.
President Obama is aware of all of this and he is getting pressure from the far left to get out of Afghanistan. Even some conservatives like George Will want to give up the fight.
But if America does bail out, the terrorists win. It's almost exactly the same as it was in Iraq before the surge. But there can be no surge in Afghanistan without more troops, so President Obama should commit them.
But if this escalation doesn't turn the tide, NATO is pretty much out of options. That will be a disaster for the world, as the Muslim terrorists will declare victory, Al Qaeda will have a big sanctuary, and President Obama will look weak. What a mess.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
Former Speaker of the House Tom DeLay has a hidden talent: dancing.
Click here to see Tom DeLay on "Dancing With the Stars"!
Did you ever think you'd see that? Just for his courage, Mr. DeLay is a patriot.
On the pinhead front, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt finally signed a pledge not to do business with Iran. Finally. It took many years to get Immelt to do this, but as we reported, General Electric was embarrassed because it was one of the last American countries to stop sending material to the hated mullahs. Now Immelt has signed the pledge, but he remains a pinhead.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox