The challenge of leadership is to make the tough decision. To step off the fence and cast your stone one way or the other. To assume the burden of authority is to bear the weight of those resolutions. Leadership has it perks, peaks and pride but it comes with a cost; it is the price one pays when the role is accepted.
The decision which may well mark the future of our president has been laid and it will not lie dormant, waiting for facts to be weighed and outcomes polled. Air Force One may not require frequent flier miles or Visa Gold to board its plush interior but it does, most assuredly, have a high priced ticket. It is the price of Presidency and the bill has come due.
Afghanistan. It is time to make your stand, Mr. Obama. Win or lose, sink or swim, in or out. It is now upon your desk and it not only deserves, but requires, your voice.
Your hand picked military man, General McChrystal, has given you the expertly informed opinion. Up the troop levels significantly or the war is lost. It is akin to claiming the boys in desert tan are outnumbered and almost overrun. Blood is flying and the war has entered a crucial stage. Will we stay or will we go?
Granted, it is a murky call, Mr. President and one which will demonize you regardless of which way you lean. There are those for whom any less than full withdrawal is tantamount to war crime and there are those for whom departure now is to leave our dead buried in vain.
It is not a simple choice.
But that is why you stand behind the Presidential Seal. We did not elect an orator or handsome man with a million dollar smile. We elected a President. And a president needs to stand when others don't and to lead when others won't.
I'm unconvinced the war deserves our effort; the mission changed from seeking out Al-Quaeda to reducing Afghani on Afghani violence. I see merits on both sides of the argument and could be swayed to endorse an invasion of Pakistan to destroy the seeds of terror or to leave now and let the ancient tribal animosities run their course until nothing remains but stone age caves and prehistoric infrastructure.
But I am not the one with the voice that counts. That voice is yours, Mr. President. And your silence of indecision has cast your vote and illuminated your ability to lead a nation in war.
Americans are dying at the hands of foreign threats. The blood spilled staining your name. It is time to stand and time to lead. If the war is lost and unworthy of further effort then make your feelings known and begin the unenviable task of retreat. If you feel the war must be continued and is as vital as your campaign promises claimed then grant our military the resources needed to win. Time and debate are not comforts your presidency can afford and the cloudy rhetoric of health care, Taliban negotiations, contested elections or the pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey are items which will remain regardless of what you decide.
The Presidency of the United States is an unenviable job for many reasons; you are judged from your choice of tie to the breed of dog which lies upon your couch. But you accepted the role and took the title gladly. The campaign is over, the time of speeches past. Now arrives the difficult duty of leadership.
One must be cautioned as a decision of indecision is still a decision.
