Politics

Krauthammer on new Afghanistan revelations: ‘How can a president commit troops if his heart isn’t in it?’

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Brendan Bordelon Contributor
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Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer blasted President Obama after former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ claimed the president “lost faith” in his Afghanistan troop surge, asking, “How can a president commit troops if his heart isn’t in it, when he knows that Americans are going to die?”

Krauthammer appeared on Fox News’ “Special Report” Tuesday to discuss the bombshell revelations unleashed by Gates in his new book, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.” The former Obama cabinet member all but stabbed his former boss in the back — calling Obama and Biden disrespectful to military commanders, unsure over a proper Afghan policy and focused more on politics than effective foreign policy.

The columnist was particularly incensed that Obama sent 33,000 extra troops into Afghanistan without actually believing they would be victorious. “The real issue is: How can a president commit troops if his heart isn’t in it, when he knows that Americans are going to die?” Krauthammer questioned. “Three out of every four Americans who died in Afghanistan have done so under the command and orders of Barack Obama.”

“And look, the problem isn’t that a president makes mistakes,” he explained. “Bush made horrible mistakes in Iraq. Reagan made a terrible mistake in Lebanon. Lincoln made years of mistakes until he found his general. But if you order a mission and your heart isn’t in the mission, it’s a question of conscience here.”

Krauthammer added that Obama’s “lack of interest in Afghanistan” is illustrated by the fact that he has not spoken to Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan and the White House’s nominal ally, since July of last year. “For a president who doesn’t pick up the phone and speak with our ally in the region, it’s really shocking,” he said.

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