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U.S. commander in Afghanistan talked with Obama only once

By Amanda Carpenter on Sept. 28, 2009 into Hot Button Blog

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The military general credited with capturing Saddam Hussein and killing the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says he has spoken with President Obama only once since taking command in Afghanistan.

"I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC [video teleconference]," Gen. Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.

"You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?" Mr. Martin followed up.

"That is correct," the general replied.

This revelation comes amid the explosive publication of a classified report written by the general that said the war in Afghanistan "will likely result in failure" if more troops are not added next year. Yet, the debate over health care reform continues to dominate Washington’s political discussions.

On Monday, the White House announced President Obama would travel to Denmark to lobby the International Olympic Committee to select his hometown of Chicago for the 2016 summer games.

Former U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations John R. Bolton said the lack of communication with the general was indicative of Mr. Obama’s misplaced priorities.

RELATED STORIES:

• Iran conducts third round of missile tests
• Gates: Afghan exit timeline 'a mistake'
• Obama will make Olympic bid in Denmark

"I think it’s very clear, and has been during last year’s campaign and in the eight months the president has been in office, that he just doesn’t regard foreign policy and national security as important as domestic issues, like reforming the health care system," Mr. Bolton told the hosts of The Washington Times’ "America's Morning News" on Monday.

He went on: "If you think there are no threats, then it’s not illogical to pay no attention to the rest of the world. The problem is in his [Obama’s] basic reading of the international environment where we do continue to face massive threats from international terrorists and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, among others."

 

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There are 171 Comments

cjinx79

No big surprise here. What should we expect from someone who has no experience in the area and to whom the biggest enterprise he ever was part of is a corrupt community organizing group. The lack of qualifications of this President are sadly evident in all aspects of his administration. Perhaps if Al-Quieda tries to get a group healthcare plan going, he could help advise them on their tax status. Other than that, the man is a puppet for Soros.
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2centsworth

Considering that Defense is the first and foremost responsibility of the Federal Government, could it be that Obama's priorities are severely out of line and that perhaps he not only is not up to the job... he doesn't even understand what it is? SHAME, SHAME on CONGRESS for not upholding the Constitution and the Federal responsibilities, and SHAME too on OBAMA for ignoring his primary imperative!
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dlgolf

It is abundantly evident that the democrat party nominated the least qualified presidential candidate in our life time. There was no serious examination of Obama's past associations and lack of experience by the mainstream media. We are witnessing the consequences every single day - blunder after blunder. We need a real American leader, not a president that travels the world apologizing for for America.
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xinunus

EVERYTIME OBAMA USES THE 47 MILLION UN-INSURED AMERICANS NUMBER HE LIES. THE NUMBER INCLUDES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. 45.7 Million Un-Insured Breakdown -------------------------------------------- Illegal Immigrants = 9.3 million Medicad Undercount = 6.4 million Medicaid/SCHIP Eligible = 4.3 million Childless Adults = 5.0 million Over 300% of Poverty = 10.1 million Remaining Uninsured = 10.6 million Medicad Undercount – People who are on one of two government health insurance programs, Medicaid or S-CHIP, but mistakenly (intentionally or not) tell the Census taker that they are uninsured. Medicaid/SCHIP Eligible – Eligible for free or heavily subsidized government health insurance (again, either Medcaid or SCHIP), but have not signed up. Childless Adults – Adults between ages 18 and 34 and without kids. Over 300% of Poverty – Do not fit into any of the above categories, and they have incomes more than 3X the poverty level. Remaining Uninsured – U.S. citizens, with income below 300% of poverty, not on or eligible for a taxpayer-subsidized health insurance program, and not a childless adult between age 18 and 34. *NOTE: THIS INFORMATION IS FREELY AVAILABLE ON THE CENSUS WEBSITE.
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xinunus

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill
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AC7880

While Obumbler dithers about, men and women are dying in Afghanistan. Our troops are dying and being mangled, Afghans are dying. NO BLOOD BECAUSE OF A FOOL!
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xinunus

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day (DEMOCRATS). Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime (REPUBLICANS).
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CRITIC22

The Pentagon generals are totally incompetent and should be fired, and that includes JCS chief Gates. Gen McKhrystal is said to be an “intelligence” general like Gates. Maybe that is EXACTLY why the military can't seem to WIN A WAR against two backwards countries. These “SPOOKS” like to flaunt their POWER over others rather than using brains. Well, the American people aren’t the least bit impressed with your “power” Mr. Gates and General McKhrystal, especially when you can’t seem to get the job done despite the trillions of “Black Project”dollars and technology 100 years into the future (no accountability), more budgeted trillions, HUGE contracts with the corrupt XE, Blackwater, Halliburton, and thousands of others; thousands of “SPECIAL FORCES” and “INTELLIGENCE” personnel. It’s hard to imagine that you need ANY additional resources with all of these already at your disposal. You’ve even got the CIA and NSA satellites working for you. WHY aren't they winning this war against 2 backwards countries ....WITH ALL THOSE RESOURCES? They've just “drifted along” for nine long years, soldiers being killed and maimed every day…THEN, when they get back their golf games and realize things aren’t going so well, they DEMAND more of our sons and daughters to maim. Why not use all those robots and clones they've developed with OUR money? Where are they? Seems they're totally “incapable” of solving the IED problem! Are the generals too busy having the troops rapell down helicopters at night in American cities, conducting infrastructure training in Chicago underground tunnels, and confiscating legal guns from citizens in New Orleans to win a war? Is the object just to keep the war going INDEFINITELY? The JCS and Pentagon generals should be court-martialed for the SHAMEFUL WAY THEY’VE FAILED TO PROTECT THE TROOPS, AND EVEN CONTRIBUTED TO THEIR DEATHS via DEPLETED URANIUM in tanks, and EXPERIMENTAL VACCINATIONS causing some to die overnight. Even NOW, they’re FORCING MANDATORY deadly swine flu shots our troops, which contains even more squalene than caused the gulf war illnesses.
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2centsworth

It occurs to me... while Obama is in Copenhagen petitioning for the Olympics (when he should be evaluting the Afghanistan strategy!), in a civilian court could you charge him with "willful neglect" for every soldier killed?
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clarify

I"ve felt that Obama is intellectually lazy and this is more proof. He says things and lets others do the work. He is not engaged in anything but issues which he feels will push his personal agenda. Meanwhile his czars do their thing and he makes a speech promoting their weird leftist agenda. How can he travel all over the world and be engaged. Answer is--he's not. This is a very dangerous time to have a leftist in the white house
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Cogs

The Dinosaur Media will ignore this too. Move along, nothing to see here; Mmm, mmm, mm!
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chipfields

mmm, mmmm, mmm, Barak Hussein Obama.....
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Brick_Oven_Bill

President Obama seems to be uncomfortable at some level around strong conservative males. This would explain his choice of associations in college, his appointments, and the conscious or unconscious decision to avoid interacting with military leaders.
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EricBrodin

I'm sure that's a big change from the old administration.
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joedoe

No time for the troops, but plenty of time to go to Copenhagen and push for a Chicago 2016 Olympic site? I think we have been punked!
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