Unchurchillian
My column for The Week argues that President Obama's West Point speech was not as bad as it sounded.
President Obama’s challenge is to persuade the country that Afghanistan is worth it. A grand Churchillian oration would be utterly counter-productive to that end. Imagine that Obama had delivered to the West Point cadets an updated version of the tremendous Churchillian words:
"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."
The television audience would have wondered: Has this man lost his mind? A phrase like "however long and hard the road may be" only raises the awkward question: Wait a minute – if it is going to be as hard and long as all that, maybe we should just forget this whole faraway war before it revs up.
Americans cannot be inspired to risk all for Afghanistan. But they can be persuaded that the war is necessary and winnable – if the promises are delivered in ways that sound considered and credible.