The War Within

If you have doubts as to who's running the country you need look no further than Nancy Pelosi. As third in line, she's sure showing she's got the toughness it takes.

The The Wall Street Journal headlines the fact the Pelosi is seeing reluctance in Congress to send additional troops to Afghanistan.

It interests me to watch this woman. In some instances she seems little more then an obstructionist. I guess it depends whether or not your on her side of the battle. She's as tough as nails and as cold as steel.

General McChrystal, the relatively new commander in Kabul was instructed by Secretary of Defense Gates to not ask for increased troops in his recent assessment of conditions. It was not timely. McChrystal acquiesced. It's coming now. Bear in mind this is the administration's hand picked commander. The President contends this is a "war of necessity" and it is escalating faster than a blink of the eye. A fair chunk of Congress does not agree, including a strong coalition of Democrats.

The problem might be that Congress was burned with the "War of Choice", as Obama portrays it, in Iraq, and are reluctant to get burned again by supporting the escalation of this one. Maybe they recognize we can't afford it. Maybe they recognize the dollar cost isn't worth the end game. Maybe they realize a strategy is a must. We can't afford another open ended conflict.

Many Americans are against it. The Russians failed and the British before them. We're short of resources; how can we possibly do better? We're still fighting an enemy who is besting us with far less than we have. Why is that? Is it because we're fighting in a conventional manner while the enemy is not?

We're seeing another battle of wills between the White House and Congress. This time, rather than butting heads with the Republican minority over health care, plus a few maverick Democrats that are giving them fits, they're facing strong opposition from within their own party! That does not bode well for the administration.

I think the country is just plain war weary. Whether it's domestic "war" against unpopular policies or fighting war in lands we know little about. We're weary of an economy that shows too few signs of improvement. We're weary of looking for jobs comparable to the ones we once held. We're weary of looking for jobs period. There's likely not to be any employers left to participate in Obama's grandiose health care schemes at the rate we're going. We're just plain weary of worrying.

We're most weary, however, of sending our young men and women off to war torn areas of our own making and having them not return. Ms. Pelosi may win this battle. The "war" however, is far from over.