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| Matt Frei's diary: World's worst job? | Matt Frei's diary: World's worst job? |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| By Matt Frei BBC News, Washington President Obama has a lot on his plate | By Matt Frei BBC News, Washington President Obama has a lot on his plate |
| When President Obama was elected last November, the satirical weekly The Onion quipped in its headline: "Black man gets nation's worst job." | When President Obama was elected last November, the satirical weekly The Onion quipped in its headline: "Black man gets nation's worst job." |
| I was reminded of the headline this week as I watched Mr Obama at the UN. | I was reminded of the headline this week as I watched Mr Obama at the UN. |
| Between the beaming moments and the winning smiles, his face was etched with anxiety and fatigue. I wondered how much he is actually enjoying running America. But this is of course a purely superficial impression based on nothing other than observation. | Between the beaming moments and the winning smiles, his face was etched with anxiety and fatigue. I wondered how much he is actually enjoying running America. But this is of course a purely superficial impression based on nothing other than observation. |
| There is little doubt the policy headaches have been mounting. The one that is really beginning to weigh on Mr Obama and his team is an issue that they must have hoped would be on the back boiler by now. | There is little doubt the policy headaches have been mounting. The one that is really beginning to weigh on Mr Obama and his team is an issue that they must have hoped would be on the back boiler by now. |
| Unfortunately its priority is now scorching, and it could really burn this presidency. I am talking about Afghanistan. | Unfortunately its priority is now scorching, and it could really burn this presidency. I am talking about Afghanistan. |
| A familiar dilemma is occurring. As the rock band The Clash put it: Should I stay or should I go? | A familiar dilemma is occurring. As the rock band The Clash put it: Should I stay or should I go? |
| Americans are quietly beginning to ask uncomfortable questions about 'a pile of rocks called Afghanistan' | Americans are quietly beginning to ask uncomfortable questions about 'a pile of rocks called Afghanistan' |
| President Obama had thought that he could scale down Iraq and beef up Afghanistan. It would allow him to prove that he was tough about defending America, pursuing al-Qaeda to the gates of hell and preventing Afghanistan from turning into another incubation chamber for Islamic extremism. | President Obama had thought that he could scale down Iraq and beef up Afghanistan. It would allow him to prove that he was tough about defending America, pursuing al-Qaeda to the gates of hell and preventing Afghanistan from turning into another incubation chamber for Islamic extremism. |
| But the mission has changed dramatically and the change has been forced on this administration by the Taliban. | But the mission has changed dramatically and the change has been forced on this administration by the Taliban. |
| As the New York Times columnist Tom Friedman told me the other day: "We have gone from baby-sitting to adoption without really noticing and really wanting too." | As the New York Times columnist Tom Friedman told me the other day: "We have gone from baby-sitting to adoption without really noticing and really wanting too." |
| Hurried adoption | Hurried adoption |
| After the 2001 invasion and removal of the Taliban, the occupation of Afghanistan turned into essentially a policing operation. That was the baby-sitting part - with a very distracted baby sitter. Afghanistan became the "second war" while the US and the world focused on Iraq. | After the 2001 invasion and removal of the Taliban, the occupation of Afghanistan turned into essentially a policing operation. That was the baby-sitting part - with a very distracted baby sitter. Afghanistan became the "second war" while the US and the world focused on Iraq. |
| How things have changed. We are now in the middle of a hurried adoption; reluctant and half-hearted nation-building amid an increasingly vicious military conflict. | How things have changed. We are now in the middle of a hurried adoption; reluctant and half-hearted nation-building amid an increasingly vicious military conflict. |
| More questions are being raised over what the US is doing in Afghanistan | More questions are being raised over what the US is doing in Afghanistan |
| On top of that Nato troops are seen to be propping up a regime that has just been caught fiddling an election and stuffing ballot boxes with the brazenness of a taxidermist. | On top of that Nato troops are seen to be propping up a regime that has just been caught fiddling an election and stuffing ballot boxes with the brazenness of a taxidermist. |
| Mr Obama himself is said by some to be cautiously in favour of a greater commitment. He does not want America to be accused of abandoning Afghanistan to its own meagre resources as it had done after the collapse of the Soviet occupation. | Mr Obama himself is said by some to be cautiously in favour of a greater commitment. He does not want America to be accused of abandoning Afghanistan to its own meagre resources as it had done after the collapse of the Soviet occupation. |
| If Mr Obama is pondering full-scale adoption, Vice President Joe Biden is said to be arguing voraciously, as is his style, for handing Afghanistan to foster parents, otherwise known as the United Nations. He wants out. | If Mr Obama is pondering full-scale adoption, Vice President Joe Biden is said to be arguing voraciously, as is his style, for handing Afghanistan to foster parents, otherwise known as the United Nations. He wants out. |
| The public debate over this war had been largely smothered by all the sound and fury over race, liars and the decline of civility. | The public debate over this war had been largely smothered by all the sound and fury over race, liars and the decline of civility. |
| But the issue demanded the limelight this week when the Washington Post published the details of a damning 66-page report in which America's top general in Afghanistan dished out some sobering stuff: the war had been grossly under-resourced for most of its eight years. | But the issue demanded the limelight this week when the Washington Post published the details of a damning 66-page report in which America's top general in Afghanistan dished out some sobering stuff: the war had been grossly under-resourced for most of its eight years. |
| If America does not up its game, the outcome could well be failure. The leaked report could be the Pentagon's way of pressuring the White House to hand over thousands more troops. It is an old trick. | If America does not up its game, the outcome could well be failure. The leaked report could be the Pentagon's way of pressuring the White House to hand over thousands more troops. It is an old trick. |
| The top brass did exactly the same in the UK earlier in the summer. At the very least they put down a public "we told you so" should things get worse. | The top brass did exactly the same in the UK earlier in the summer. At the very least they put down a public "we told you so" should things get worse. |
| Messy recount | Messy recount |
| Opinion polls indicate that a conflict once seen as a worthy cause - and a sideshow to Iraq - has become increasingly unpopular and decreasingly relevant to the war on "terror". | Opinion polls indicate that a conflict once seen as a worthy cause - and a sideshow to Iraq - has become increasingly unpopular and decreasingly relevant to the war on "terror". |
| Americans are quietly beginning to ask uncomfortable questions about "a pile of rocks called Afghanistan", as Representative Charlie Wilson once called it. | Americans are quietly beginning to ask uncomfortable questions about "a pile of rocks called Afghanistan", as Representative Charlie Wilson once called it. |
| Time to pack up and leave? | Time to pack up and leave? |
| What are we doing there? Is it nation-building? Are we still hunting al-Qaeda? Haven't they migrated across the border to Pakistan? And where are our foreign friends? | What are we doing there? Is it nation-building? Are we still hunting al-Qaeda? Haven't they migrated across the border to Pakistan? And where are our foreign friends? |
| As Mr Obama said bluntly at the UN on Wednesday, the same countries that accused America for going it alone under George W Bush cannot now leave it alone to fix the world. | As Mr Obama said bluntly at the UN on Wednesday, the same countries that accused America for going it alone under George W Bush cannot now leave it alone to fix the world. |
| But when it comes to Afghanistan, the likes of Germany, Italy or Canada are heading for the door. | But when it comes to Afghanistan, the likes of Germany, Italy or Canada are heading for the door. |
| At home, Americans have lost their appetite for foreign adventure, however noble and worthy. It is the war against poverty at home that is now concentrating minds. | At home, Americans have lost their appetite for foreign adventure, however noble and worthy. It is the war against poverty at home that is now concentrating minds. |
| Nation-building in the tribal valleys of Helmand is considered too costly and quixotic. The Uruzgan recount is going to be even messier than the Florida recount - with undoubtedly bloodier consequences for American and British lives. | Nation-building in the tribal valleys of Helmand is considered too costly and quixotic. The Uruzgan recount is going to be even messier than the Florida recount - with undoubtedly bloodier consequences for American and British lives. |
| And the president is no doubt losing sleep and hair over this latest dilemma to land on his desk. | And the president is no doubt losing sleep and hair over this latest dilemma to land on his desk. |
| The only good news comes in the form of winter: when the snow falls, as it will do by the end of next month, the fighting dies down and the conflict goes into partial hibernation. Winter will buy him time but not an answer. | The only good news comes in the form of winter: when the snow falls, as it will do by the end of next month, the fighting dies down and the conflict goes into partial hibernation. Winter will buy him time but not an answer. |
| Send us your comments in reaction to Matt Frei's Washington diary here. |