Huckleberries Online

Richert: Idaho Support Surprising

Posted by DFO

Dec. 3, 2009 8:23 a.m. • 4 comments

President Obama can still pull off a well-crafted speech. On Tuesday night, he managed to work in some passive aggressiveness on Iraq, revisit America’s history in Vietnam, conjure the memories of 9/11 and attempt, at least, to refocus attention on Afghanistan. Rhetoric doesn’t ensure success in Afghanistan. Nothing does - especially considering Afghanistan’s place in military history. But Obama backed up the rhetoric with a good argument for deploying an additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, and I was surprised by the somewhat favorable reactions from an often-skeptical Idaho delegation/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Were you surprised that the Idaho delegation supported President Obama’s call for 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan?

Four comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Phaedrus on December 03 at 8:28 a.m.
No, they always seem to support spending billions for war, it would be surprising if Idaho’s delegation supported spending billions for Americans’ health.
TALKJOC on December 03 at 8:49 a.m.
Not quite sure which speech Richert was watching, but to me, it was like listening to a college professor who had 45 minutes of material who took 60 minutes to deliver it.
Where was the passion? Where was the Commander in Chief rallying the troops? What I saw in the crowd was soldiers who looked like they were asleep.
Of course the Idaho delegation supported the decision. They support the troops and the mission.s goal.
Obama didn’t support the Iraq surge, which worked, and didn’t give HIS general what he asked for in Afghanistan.
Bad speech but good decision for the surge.
hmoffsuite on December 03 at 9:16 a.m.
Phaedrus. Honestly, I hate to see a troop build up in Afghanistan as well. Frankly, I could care less what happens in Afghanistan other than how it effects the stability of the region. I think Pakistan is a bigger concern as they have nukes and provide some refuge for al quaida and a means for their accessing the rest of the world. Would we be better served to strengthen our presence in Pakistan? How would you deal with Afghanistan so as to not allow the terrorists to achieve a stronger grip in the region? How would you like to see this matter resolved?
HonestGeorge on December 03 at 9:17 a.m.
Surprised? No - as long as we keep providing volunteer surrogates to fight in their place.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.