NEOAVATARA

c/o Michael Ramirez, Investors's Business Daily

It is funny how fast this administration throws people away when it fits their political expediency.

Obama and his speechwriters thought they were brilliant when they concluded that Obama, unlike in the past, was supplying the troops that generals on the ground in Afghanistan wanted.  Only one problem:  the statement is not true.

Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense, wrote a scathing response to Obama’s accusation that he did not supply troops to Afghanistan when requested by the generals on the ground.

“In his speech to the nation last night, President Obama claimed that ‘Commanders in Afghanistan repeatedly asked for support to deal with the reemergence of the Taliban, but these reinforcements did not arrive.’ Such a bald misstatement, at least as it pertains to the period I served as Secretary of Defense, deserves a response.”

“I am not aware of a single request of that nature between 2001 and 2006. If any such requests occurred, ‘repeated’ or not, the White House should promptly make them public. The President’s assertion does a disservice to the truth and, in particular, to the thousands of men and women in uniform who have fought, served and sacrificed in Afghanistan.”

“In the interest of better understanding the President’s announcement last night, I suggest that the Congress review the President’s assertion in the forthcoming debate and determine exactly what requests were made, who made them, and where and why in the chain of command they were denied.”

So, what are the facts, according to the White House?  Robert Gibbs responded:

Robert Gibbs cheerfully responded to Donald Rumsfeld’s denial that he’d denied troops to Afghanistan with, first, a clarification that Obama had been talking about the post-Rumsfeld era of 2008.

…”I will let Secretary Rumsfeld explain” whether the war in Afghanistan “was sufficiently resourced during his tenure” … and how he thinks “history will judge whether they were or were not sufficient,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs quipped: “You go to war with the secretary of Defense that you have.”

Yeah, great…except for one little problem.  That Secretary of Defense that Gibbs is referring to?  It is CURRENT Secretary of Defense Robert Gates!

That’s right.  Gibbs happily just threw the Obama Administration’s fourth highest official under the proverbial bus.  The irony is, even that is false.  Gates had requested 30,000 troops when the Obama Administration came in, and only received 17,000 last March.  Thus, it was Obama, and not his predecessor, that turned down a request from the generals on the ground.  Additionally, McChrystal asked for a minimum of 40,000 troops.  Although the General has agreed to the current plan, Mr. Obama has yet to explain what the rationale is to cut that troop deployment by 25%.

The audacity of this administration is growing exponentially by the day…and the lack of truth telling is starting to wear on the American public.