Today's Obama Fail Watch:1.) Last week, the Obama administration celebrated its openness by holding a meeting that was closed to the press. [HotAir]
2.) Obama went off-teleprompter and wound up claiming he took office last year. [HotAir]
3.) More evidence that Obama's mortgage modification program is failing. [Bloomberg]
4.) Fresh off his victory-free speech on Afghanistan, European leftists are calling Obama "the love-bomber" and a "bloodthirsty liberal." [Forth]
5.) Obama's new Afghanistan surge may be doomed to fail, if reports of the new rules of engagement are true:
The London Times recently reported that Marines, about to embark on a dangerous supply mission, were shown a PowerPoint presentation that first illustrated locations of IEDs along the way and then warned the Marines "not to fire indiscriminately even if they were fired on."The Times story went on to note: "The briefing ended with a projected screen of McChrystal's quote: "It's not how many you kill, it's how many you convince."
Source: Washington Examiner
6.) Speaking of PowerPoint presentations and war in Afghanistan, it seems the Obama administration is in way over its head:
In June, McChrystal noted, he had arrived in Afghanistan and set about fulfilling his assignment. His lean face, hovering on the screen at the end of the table, was replaced by a mission statement on a slide: "Defeat the Taliban. Secure the Population."
"Is that really what you think your mission is?" one of those in the Situation Room asked.
On the face of it, it was impossible -- the Taliban were part of the fabric of the Pashtun belt of southern Afghanistan, culturally if not ideologically supported by a significant part of the population. "We don't need to do that," Gates said, according to a participant. "That's an open-ended, forever commitment."
But that was precisely his mission, McChrystal responded, and it was enshrined in the Strategic Implementation Plan -- the execution orders for the March strategy, written by the NSC staff.
"I wouldn't say there was quite a 'whoa' moment," a senior defense official said of the reaction around the table. "It was just sort of a recognition that, 'Duh, that's what, in effect, the commander understands he's been told to do.' Everybody said, 'He's right.' "
Source: Washington Post
7.) President Obama's approval rating is at -19... a new personal best! [Rasmussen Reports]
8.) President Obama's brother - Samson Obama - was denied entry to the UK, on account of an alleged sexual attack on a girl. You can bet this won't receive the same kind of coverage of Sarah Palin's children and in-laws. [BBC News]
