Markos joined Jack Rice on The Ed Show Wednesday afternoon to talk about the importance of avoiding the Afghanistan trap that so many others have fallen into, including the former Soviet Union.
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.
President Obama is finally going to announce his plan for the war in Afghanistan next Tuesday from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. But he needs to keep in mind that the number one priority should be right here at home. Democrats are starting to worry that paying for more troops in Afghanistan will hamper our ability to recover from the recession.
On a conference call yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this: "I think we have to look at the war with a green eyeshade on. There is unrest in our caucus about: can we afford the war?"
Let’s turn to the founder and publisher of "The Daily Kos," Markos Moulitsas, and also former CIA agent Jack Rice. And you can check him out on JackRice.com.
Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight.
Markos Moulitsas, I want to know — the blog traffic has been pretty heavy. The base really can’t believe that the president is going to commit this many troops at this expense.
Does this somewhat blindside the base? And how do they feel about it?
MARKOS MOULITSAS, FOUNDER, "THE DAILY KOS": I don’t think there’s any blindside to it. I mean, this is a very difficult issue.
You know, let me make clear from the start, I hate the Afghanistan Taliban because they’re anti-woman, they’re anti-gay, they’re anti- progress, science. It’s the exact same reason I really hate the Michele Bachmanns of the American Taliban. So, there’s no love lost for those people.
But the fact is that, you know, we have priorities here at home. And there is no real strategy that we’ve seen yet that would indicate that this expense in blood and treasure would lead us to hopefully any kind of what you’d call victory in Afghanistan.
SCHULTZ: Markos, is there a rush to judgment on the part of the left? I mean, the president has to make his case to the American people. Or is this not one that’s going to be accepted on any terms by the progressive base?
MOULITSAS: Well, we’ve had nine years in Afghanistan already. I mean, there’s no rush to judgment. We’ve been judging now for almost a decade.
And the fact is that we’ve seen strategy after strategy fail. And not just us. I mean, go back to the Soviets before us.
I mean, Afghanistan is sort of a pit for great powers. And the last thing we need to do is see the United States fall into that trap when, really, we should be focused about domestic security and the security of the American people. And issues like health care are number one on that front.
SCHULTZ: Jack Rice, what does the president have to do to get a successful conclusion in Afghanistan? How does he and the United States get a successful conclusion? Will 35,000 more troops do it?
JACK RICE, FMR. CIA AGENT: No, it went. The fact is, is what we have decided is we have tied ourselves to an incompetent and illegitimate regime in Hamid Karzai. That’s a fact. Whether we put 10,000 or 30,000 or 100,000 more troops in, it doesn’t make a difference.
By the way, one little twist to this. One of the things that apparently is going to happen is we’re going to focus in on the cities. We’re going to abandon the countryside. That’s been our strategy under General McChrystal.
You know who else tried that very same strategy? The Russians. The Soviets did the same thing, and then they determined they couldn’t do this either.
By the way, this is absolutely true. The Brits invaded into Afghanistan twice and lost. The Soviets have done this.
Nobody has ever successfully taken Afghanistan. And frankly, I have a hard time believing that the Americans are going to be any different.
SCHULTZ: Here is the president yesterday giving us a preview of what his decision’s going to be and what the speech is going to be like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After eight years, some of those years in which we did not have, I think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done, it is my intention to finish the job. And I feel very confident that when the American people hear a clear rationale for what we’re doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals, that they will be supportive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Markos, what does the president have to say to convince the left on Tuesday night?
MOULITSAS: He would have to say that he needs to pull out the troops from Afghanistan and focus on domestic concerns. God knows we don’t have the money...
SCHULTZ: Will he lose support? Well, if that’s the case, will he support In the midterms? I mean, will the Democrats pay a price for this decision?
MOULITSAS: Well, I think the midterms are really going to be a referendum on the totality of the Democratic response to all the problems facing our country. Afghanistan is one of those issues, health care is another one. I think if they fail on health care, they fail on Afghanistan, we’ve got some real problems as a party in 2010.
SCHULTZ: All right.
Jack Rice, Markos Moulitsas, thanks for joining us tonight.