Is Barack Obama going to be a Lyndon Johnson?

By Tom Kando

I am worried about the Obama Presidency. Its foreign policy is endangering its economic policy. The latter should be the paramount concern. America is a sick baby. Depleted, exhausted, as the Dutch NRC Handelsblad describes us. President Obama has focused on the economy, of course, and his first 100 days have been great, BUT...But, there is this nagging problem - the Middle East - including the two wars inherited from the Bush Administration. Obama’s initial stance has been: (1) de-escalate our involvement in Iraq, and (2) escalate the war in Afghanistan. I already had a problem with that. But now, there is a 3rd country for which we are assuming increasing responsibility - (3) Pakistan!

I am aware of all the reasons given for continuing to fight, and to fight even more, in Afghanistan and in Pakistan: The Taliban are monsters, Pakistan has nukes, the world is a global village, if we don’t beat terrorism there, we won’t be safe at home, the world’s oil supply and commerce must be safeguarded, etc., etc.

But here are reasons for NOT continuing to fight those wars: (1) We will NEVER win. No one has ever won in Afghanistan, not Alexander the Great, not the British Empire, not the Soviet Union, not us. (2). There is token support from a few Europeans (for example, so far 19 Dutch soldiers have died in Afghanistan), but by and large the rest of the world doesn’t give a damn. We carry 95% of the burden. (3) America should not feel responsible for all the troubles of the world. Those countries are on the other side of the GLOBE, for crying out loud. We have drug wars on our own borders, spilling over into Texas and California, killing twenty times more people!

Here is a scary analogy: When Lyndon Johnson came to the Presidency in 1963, he was a good and promising man. His agenda was labeled the Great Society. This was a wonderful and progressive package of policies, including a War on Poverty, tremendous progress on the Civil Rights front, Medicare, aid to education, and much more.

And then, you know what happened? The Johnson Administration got bogged down and totally sidetracked in the Vietnam War. By 1969, the Great Society agenda was in tatters. Johnson had spent most of his presidency escalating and running the Vietnam war, influenced by the bad advice of his generals (William Westmoreland), and of his Secretary of Defense (Robert McNamara).

In 1969, President Johnson announced that he would not run for re-election, which was tantamount to an ignominious resignation and an admission that his presidency was a failure. The Great Society had been sacrificed to the Vietnam war, a war which was lost anyway. Was that stupid or what?

It’s too bad if the Taliban wants to take that part of the world back to the 5th century. Yes, they are monsters. Yes, what they do to women is monstrous. But we can’t prevent any of that. It’s too bad if we never capture Bin Laden. But we can’t.

We couldn’t win in Vietnam, and we certainly won’t win in Afghanistan, much less be able to control Pakistan (a country of 170 million people!). It would be nice if we could, but we don’t have the strength, the resources, the capability.

Let others, closer to the region, do what they can. Maybe India can play a role. Or some of the Middle Eastern countries. Or even the Europeans, who have a lot more at stake there.

President Obama: Please don’t become another Lyndon Johnson.leave comment here