Obama has ignored the successful strategies of General Petraeus and has instead chosen to pursue the failed strategies of Rumsfeld and Casey.  In closing, it points out that ignoring the lessons of history is a common theme for Obama and the left.

It was easy for anyone who cares about our military and/or has a basic knowledge of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to be upset by the President's announcement of his new strategy for the Afghan War last night.  The president ignored the suggestions of American generals, lessons learned by the Bush Administration only years ago, fundamental military strategy and common sense.  On a broader scale he reinforced the fact that liberalism is not only a failed ideology, but one that prevents human learning and advancement on a worldwide scale.

In 2006, after a faltering effort in Iraq led to massive defeats of the GOP in the 2006 midterm elections, President Bush made the tough decision to remove both Secretary Rumsfeld and General Casey from their respective posts.  He did this because the "draw down to win" strategy employed under their leadership had led to an undermanned American army that was suffering high casualties while Iraq appeared close to a civil war.  Bush, under the advice of Petraeus, then made the tough decision to deploy 20,000 additional troops to Iraq to reinforce Baghdad.   The result of the additional manpower was such an overwhelming success that leftists in Washington and the media stopped criticizing the Iraq War and began declaring that "the real war is in Afghanistan."

Five years later, however, President Obama is either incapable or unwilling to learn from Bush and Petraeus.  After refusing to provide the necessary manpower for an Afghan surge in 2009, an undermanned American Army in Afghanistan has seen casualties rise every year since Obama took office.  Obama, however, stated last night that the "tide of war has receded" and he will now begin pursuing a draw-down-to-win strategy similar to Casey's.  Instead of correcting his previous mistake, Obama will now employ a strategy that has proven to fail.  He will draw down troop levels despite continued violence and hope that the Afghan Government will come to his rescue.

In a style identical to his decisions on the Afghan surge and the war in Libya, Obama has failed to be decisive after waffling for an extended period.  He will not remove American troops from Afghanistan completely, nor will he provide the necessary manpower to win the war.  He has instead decided to withdraw only the additional troops deployed during the 2009 surge; which will leave an already undermanned army further undermanned in the face of continued hostility.

This decision draws important parallels to the decisions made by the left on the economy and science.  In 2008, facing a recession similar to those in the late 20s and early 80s, the left pursued the failed polices of FDR while ignoring the successful strategies of Reagan.  In a similar fashion, the left has refused to learn from the global cooling and overpopulation myths of the 70s and is now consumed with preventing a climate change crisis that is both easily refuted and steeped in corrupted and doctored data.   Both of these errors have led to policies that have deeply damaged the American economy and caused the misery index to skyrocket.   Obama has made clear that in Afghanistan once again the left will ignore the lessons of history and repeat the failures of the past.

It has been devastating to watch our president ignore common sense and recent history and lead our economy down the road to destruction.  It is more upsetting to watch him put the American military at an extreme disadvantage in a hostile environment.