It is striking to behold the caution with which the White House has reacted to the leak of General Stanley McChrystal’s Afghan review to the Washington Post. Though the document has been with the president for several weeks, a spokesman says that no decision on a further troop commitment is imminent. It is easy to see why.
Barack Obama, US president, possesses finite political capital. He is spending it heavily to promote his healthcare plan, confront the hardline Israeli government and advance other policies unwelcome to many Americans. Whatever his response to Gen McChrystal’s review, it will mark ownership transfer of an increasingly unpopular war from the Bush to Obama administrations.
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