Chamberlain was a leader too‏

This is the kind of thought that bubbles around the WaPo social circles. Sure, they are supposed to have an opinion one side or the other - but really people .... these are supposed to be my and your intellectual betters? Harumph. Maybe in some areas - but not in my pool.

From the WaPo's section, On Leadership, Michael Maccoby, an anthropologist and psychoanalyst who claims to be a "globally recognized as an expert on leadership," and the author of The Leaders We Need, And What Makes Us Follow, puts this out.

There is no way to prove predictions of what will happen if we remove our troops from Afghanistan. The president has to weigh all the views and information available before deciding what is in the national interest. The decision to leave will also require a strategy for leaving. Ideally, the U.S. and our allies would be able to engage the Taliban leadership in negotiations so that in exchange for our leaving, they would agree to a truce. A goal of negotiations should be their agreement to stop supporting al-Qaeda, which has a different purpose from theirs. We could offer to continue economic support which would be much less costly than waging a never-ending war.

Even if Obama persuades the majority of Americans that a change in strategy is based on the best assessment of the national interest, he will be attacked by Republicans who will see a political opportunity to label him as weak and by neo-con idealists who believe we can remake the world in our image. These are some of the same people who predicted we would be hailed in Iraq as liberators. Obama will need to educate the American public that we live in a multi-cultural world, that our ability to influence others is significant but limited, and that we undermine our prestige and our own values by trying to force them on others.

He may be a swell fellow and have the theory of leadership down ... I guess ... but when it comes to POL/MIL and COIN he is way, WAY, out of his depth.

Let me be clear and concise as can be: you cannot negotiate with the Taliban leadership. Those who state that just demonstrate their ignorance of history and the local habits. These are not Westerners with Western world-views or habits. If we walk out of AFG, it will make the fall of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia look like a garden party in Rock Creek Park. That blood - like that of the millions in Southeast Asia who died due to the actions of the '75 Democrat Congress, will be firmly on the hands of those like Mr. Maccoby and fellow travelers of the American Left.

He really shouldn't be walking around with his zipper down like that. Embarrassing.

For some reason, this entire Leadership section is starting to look like it is trying to encourage a "Defeat of Choice" by Obama in AFG - and to spin is as wise leadership. Just to add to your fun, read the fuzzy logic of Warren Bennis, the University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business at the University of Southern California, where he was the founding chair of The Leadership Institute.

Isn't there a crucial distinction between a Hamlet, with his incessant inability to act, and an honest-to-God reviewing of past experiences? The Greeks called Hamlet's condition aboulia, a will-lessness, an inability to act. I don't think that our president has a case of aboulia. He is neither a Hamlet or a Bush, but a reflective leader. We should be, and I think will be, grateful for that.

I guess the CINC will "be a reflective leader" and reflect on his one discussion this year with COMISAF while talking Olympics in Copenhagen. Why do I bother trying to give the WaPo a chance on something that sounds interesting, like a section dedicated to Leadership, when they decide to turn it into just another vehicle to promote the Democrats and bash Bush (still)?

Too much aboulia going around, don't 'ya know.

Pathetic.