When the State of the Union comes around, the nation (perhaps the world) listens. However, this blog, may I remind you, is about not taking things for face value.
So what do you think - is there something more to what Obama says in the speech? What about what he doesn't?
It was quite clear to anyone (actually) listening that foreign policy wasn't a huge focus. Of course, with approximately 90,000 troops in Afghanistan, it would be impossible for Obama to get away with not mentioning the war at all. But did anyone else notice he made sure to mention the bare minimum? He did not address what military strategy we currently have - perhaps its because the counterinsurgency (COIN) mission is failing? Instead, he talks vaguely about our end goal to extinguish the al Qaeda threat and prevent Taliban takeover. I equate this to saying we're going to stop nuclear war, and we're getting closer to stopping nuclear war, without explaining how. Lack of details highlighted a lack of clear focus in Afghanistan in my opinion. (If the debacle over what strategy we should employ in Afghanistan interests you, post in the comments and I'll redirect you to some very compelling articles).
All things said, Obama glossed over some critical issues to avoid talking about a losing war. There are other examples, such as Obama's lack of specific policy on immigration. He did not mention the Dream Act once. This may be better considering the Tuscon shootings - one policy that wasn't even the most popular won't be a solution at this point. Certainly, whether its good or not, it at least showed how Obama does not have any specific legislation planned for the near future.
I'll stop here as to not overwhelm you, but please post in the comments things you noticed that weren't entirely explicit/intentional in his speech. I'll be sure to respond. :]
Click here for a transcript of the speech provided by NPR.
Click here for a video of the speech provided by Youtube.
No comments:
Post a Comment