The new agreement signed on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s demise would forbid exactly the kind of raid that Obama ordered, one originating from Afghanistan into Pakistan...
That’s not the only option Obama has taken off the table in the new agreement, either:
Obama’s commitment will also end the use of secretive drone-attacks from Afghanistan. Those attacks have killed hundreds of al-Qaida leaders since the mid-2000s. They’ve also been very popular with U.S voters, and usually have had tacit Pakistan approval.
...how cynical can one be to accuse a political opponent of lacking the testicular fortitude to launch the kind of mission Obama green-lighted a year ago while negotiating a pact that forbids them in the future anyway? The only answer to this is that an American President might not feel bound to honor that part of the agreement, but that’s a poor answer. That would call our commitment to the entire pact into question, as well as our credibility on other treaties and pacts around the world. Besides, it doesn’t answer the question. Obama accused Romney of not having the guts to make the call, while agreeing with Karzai to never make a similar call himself. It’s hypocritical in the extreme, and the inclusion of such an agreement should have us questioning Obama’s intestinal fortitude in fighting terrorists in the region.
