QUOTE OF THE DAY…. Mitt Romney insists President Obama “can’t make up his mind on Afghanistan.” The White House’s David Axelrod responded earlier on CNN:
“The president has had hours and hours and hours of meetings with his military commanders, with his national security team, to run through every aspect of this, in order to get it right. And we’ve seen in the past what happens when we don’t do that; when we don’t do the necessary preparations. And he is determined to get Afghanistan right. It is something that Secretary Gates supports. It is something that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff supports; General McChrystal has been supportive of this process.
“You know, I know that Governor Romney has never had responsibility for any decision akin to this, so he just may not be familiar with all that it entails. But I think the American people are being well served by a process that is assiduous and in which every aspect of this is considered. Because, after all, lives of American servicemen are involved here. An enormous investment on the part of the American people, we ought to get it right.”
I think it’s wise to contrast this with Bush-era decision making. We tried an approach in which the Commander in Chief made reckless decisions without sufficient planning, and then allowed failing policies to continue — literally for years — without meaningful strategic reviews.
Now, we’re giving due diligence a shot. Dick Cheney, David Broder, and Mitt Romney are tapping their collective watches. The president cares more about success than their impatience.
