"An innovative offense is the best defense". (TECHNICALLY SPEAKING). That is one of the headlines displayed by a news media outlet this morning; and it coincides with what Vice President Biden's plan for the fight in Afghanistan; to use drones and special forces to eliminate individual leaders of the militants, and that will discourage their followers and eventually disengage them from fighting.
That is what the vice president's war plan amounts to. It is in apposition to Gen. Stanley McChrystal's version of a full confrontational strategy, in the form of rooting out the Taliban terrorists, and holding an area with enough troops after that, to make civilian life possible; and the two are among the options that President Obama is looking at, to make a final decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan .
Well, the vice president's report is based on his trip to the war zone, and so, it will be far more picturesque than that of the general, who happens to be conducting the war itself; His observations are bound to be factual; and thoughtfully considering, the president will be aware of that. Yet, the experience has been that a president tends to listen to his vice president more likely than an outsider, as he thinks that the advise he gets from the person next to take his place is more feasible and he will somehow accept it without question, as a practical thing to do.
However, in this particular instance, it will be advisable for President Obama to take the general's idea more seriously than the pretty picture his vice president is presenting.
Getting rid of militant leaders does not stop a war; they are replaced instantly or almost immediately after their death, and their replacements continue from where their predecessors have left off. So, that piece of advise must be for another time, however plausible.
On another front, Vice President Biden's reaction to former Vice President Cheney's remarks on the Afghan war is one to be considered as very cogent to the argument that the Bush administration ignored the war in Afghanistan for eight years, and that the present administration has been handed a "mess", as some White House officials have been saying in recent past in the media.
He admits that a well prepared "review" has been handed to the Obama transition team; however, the mentioning of it by the former vice president "is irrelevant". That may be so, nevertheless, that puts the present government in a position of taking full responsibility for whatever happens in Afghanistan from now on; as the White House will have no more excuses to make in pushing back any mistakes, current or otherwise, on the previous government.
There is no reason here to berate Vice President Biden for his own remarks on what his predecessor has to say, as he (Biden) has been frank to vindicate the Bush administration of the controversy about additional troops that has been embedded in the review given to him and President Obama. He has allowed the truth to come out, and many Americans will commend him for that.
He has also proved that he is doing his work perfectly well, for bringing three European leaders to the understanding that the United States is committed to their defense. Those countries being Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania; and they have agreed to accept Obama's modified missile defense version, which replaces the Bush-era plan. There is no dispute at all about his performance on that score either.
Bravo, Mr. Vice President Biden.
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