In this display created for Veteran's Day in my hometown of Toms River, N.J., there is a miniature flag in the ground for each of the 5,000+ soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since U.S. military action began in those countries at the beginning of the decade.
Many critics are skeptical, however, because of the president's track record in other recent efforts. Certain 'pet projects' may well have distracted Mr. Obama from with dealing truly pressing issues like loss of life overseas and our much-needed but difficult-to-pass health care overhaul.
First it was the Olympics that got Obama distracted. Our president wanted the games to come through his hometown of Chicago in 2016, so he took a trip to Denmark in an effort to convince voting members of the International Olympic Committee that Chicago was the place to be in 2016... but it didn't work out. Meanwhile, the issue of an exit strategy in our Middle Eastern engagements has been left hanging for nearly a year.
Losing the Olympic bid for Chicago might be a blessing in disguise-- the need to build facilities and prepare for a swell in tourism often distracts host cities and nations from tending to the needs of their people. And we have plenty of issues to take care of right now...
In retrospect, it seems a little insensitive to compete with Rio de Janeiro, which defeated Chicago and is now set to be the first city in South America ever to host the Olympics. Critics worry, understandably, that Mr. Obama was picking his pet projects unwisely and neglecting more important issues.
Round two of such criticism came over the past two weeks, when the president very publicly endorsed democratic candidates for governor in hotly contested New Jersey and Virginia elections. Both of Mr. Obama's favored candidates were defeated by Republicans, and the revised military strategies failed to materialize.
Today, Barack Obama told American reporters that is "very close" to a decision on the next step in his strategy for the war in Afghanistan, a war that he hopes "...not to hand off ... to the next president".
It's great to finally have a president who is even considering an exit strategy, but I still wonder if Mr. Obama may have have already left our servicemen out to dry a few months longer than neccesary.
When the wars are over and soldiers are home, that's when we can worry about hosting another set of Olympic games. Till then, we've got bigger fish to fry.
