Obama Didn't Say 'Victory' or 'Win' In His Speech

In his speech last night on the Afghanistan war, President Obama said 4,582 words. He correctly identified our enemy in the War on Terror in his speech, saying "al Qaeda" 22 times and "Taliban" 12 times. But he didn't correctly identify our goal in the War on Terror- in his first speech as commander-in-chief of our military, he didn't say the word 'victory' a single time.

If you ask me what my strategy will be to win the next lasertag match I'm in, I'll tell you what shoes I'll wear, who I'm playing, and that I'm going to win. I'll tell you all about how I am going to achieve victory in the video game I am playing. When asked about how I will overcome a challenge, I'll point out the things that I will do to overcome it, and will state that my ultimate goal is to overcome it.

Obama did none of these things- nothing about winning the War on Terror, nothing about achieving victory over terrorist killers, and nothing about overcoming the Taliban and putting them underground where they belong. Not a single word of victory in a speech that lasted almost an hour.

Oh, I think I heard a 'successful conclusion' and 'responsible transition' in there somewhere, but if I play you in a game of chess and come to a successful conclusion, that might mean that I lost and you won. If I play you in a game of hockey and we end with a responsible transition to shaking end, I may have gotten thumped and embarrassed. Those aren't the goals of winners. Those aren't the goals of champions. And those aren't the goals of the United States of America.

Our military is not going to Afghanistan to play the game and see it come to a conclusion. This is war, and in war you are either a winner or a loser, and the losers usually end up dead. The last war we successful concluded and came to a responsible transition in was Vietnam, which saw the United States lose control of Southeast Asia and millions of our allies that were left behind were killed. It took our nation almost a generation to recover from the last 'successful' conclusion, and I'd rather instead that we achieve victory and win.

Why is it so hard to say "And we'll win." Why can't Obama say "And we'll be victorious." Does Obama want America to win? Does Obama want America to be victorious? I wonder sometimes.

UPDATE: Don't misunderstand me- I actually thought Obama gave his best speech since the campaign trail. It was a well-articulated argument and was considerably bipartisan. I just don't think fighting a war in a bipartisan political manner that sounds good but is lacking on details and specifics is the way to go. I mean, you can BS your way through domestic policy and jam stimulus bills and healthcare bills through like this and it will only destroy our economy, but if you play these sorts of games with terrorists, it could mean a mushroom cloud.