The speech that Obama should give...

Here's what I hope I don't hear from President Obama in his "war" speech tomorrow...

If President Obama announces tomorrow that he is only removing 10,000 U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan for 2011 and 20,000 from Afghanistan in 2012, that just amounts to a fraud.

It was Obama, after all, who "surged" the troop levels in Afghanistan two years ago by 30,000...and, oh, by the way, nothing much is better in terms of conditions in Afghanistan. (Note: At the time of the surge, I predicted that Obama would lose re-election and, with his generally hapless efforts to deal with Main Street unemployment--though I realize he's been hampered all the way by irritating Republicans--I am not going to back down on that prediction. I can't see how Obama re-energizes youth, particularly, as a war president, nor the middle class, as a Herbert Hoover on job creation.) I can't see how Obama wins, with the exceptions of the unemployment rate dropping dramatically or the wars being ended. Then there is the default way of winning re-election...and that is by having a presidential opponent who is so crazy and radical that it puts fear in the hearts and minds of anyone who likes Medicare and Social Security.

So, if Obama just takes out of the war zone the troops he surged in the first place, that still leaves 70,000 U.S. soldiers there (or double the amount that President Bush put there).

That would be a joke. I can't figure out why Obama doesn't see real value and distinction in getting to be the president who actually ends long, wasteful, expensive wars. In many ways, Obama seems like he represents opportunity lost instead of opportunity at hand. Don't wait for the college subcommittee to decide some incremental step. Don't wait for the bumbling generals to determine peace. Make something good and positive and progressive HAPPEN. And if that isn't in the cards for no-drama Obama, then the left needs to find a good presidential candidate. Perhaps Howard Dean would return. If Obama desires to be a Democratic war president, which is contrary to progressive ideas, then perhaps what will be needed is not the return of his youth vote, but instead the return of youth war protests on campuses again. This is certainly a moment and time for Obama to determine where a Democratic president needs to take his country. If he wimps out, I think he loses big time.

And as I am completely annoyed with U.S. generals who have contributed to the longest war in U.S. history, I would not do what some of the Republican presidential candidates suggested in seeking the advice of the generals before changing paths with the wars. About the only thing I would ask generals, if I were president, is what kind of toilet paper should be ordered. Otherwise, I would ask privates and sergeants and people in the real world of the war for an honest evaluation of the war effort.

Then I am also growing weary of the fact that NATO can't get one lousy dictator named Gadhaffi out of the picture. If that dictator can't be eliminated (as dictators should be) by the end of the year, then I will change my position on Libya involvement as well. When it comes to war, length almost always means loss. Speed is victory.

Here's the speech that Obama should give:

The troops will be leaving Afghanistan and Iraq as soon as they can get on the planes. We will leave some expert Navy SEALS units to strategically target actual terrorists who like violence. We will provide any woman who thinks her husband is going to follow the conservative and archaic ideas of the Taliban with a heavy frying pan, as the guy has to go to sleep some time. We will provide foreign aid for education for all genders, for the building of schools and hospitals, and for the training and benefit of honest police officers, lawyers, and politicians.

By saving $120 billion a year or so on the expense of the Afghanistan War, we will put much of that money into infrastructure projects, like FDR's WPA, for jobs for soldiers leaving the service and others who are currently jobless. In further channeling the wisdom of FDR, we will establish a CCC program for young people, providing summer jobs and, instead of money, the student workers, including children of illegal immigrants, will be granted free college tuition, board, and room for a year at colleges or universities (the colleges and universities who want to continue to receive federal funding and Pell grants for incoming students). And that will just be the start of our new jobs creation effort.

And God bless the United States of America.