OxBlog

# Posted 11:28 AM by Ariel David Adesnik

JIM JONES' WHISKEY-TANGO-FOXTROT MOMENT: In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Jim Jones confirmed Bob Woodward's account of the message that Gen. Jones brought to our commanders in Afghanistan:

[CHRIS] WALLACE: The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, reportedly wants more U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan.

But according to the Washington Post, you told our top brass in late June that the president was done sending additional troops. And I want to get to the quote. "If there were new requests for force now, the president would quite likely have a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment."

Everyone in the room caught the phonetic reference to "WTF," which in the military and elsewhere means "what the expletive."

JONES: Right.

WALLACE: General, did you say that?

JONES: I did say that, but in the context of the overall strategy.

As indicated by Jones answer of "Yes, but...", he was ready to walk back his no-more-troops message, once Wallace put on some pressure:

WALLACE: But are you ruling out more troops for Afghanistan?

JONES: As you know, as you mentioned, General McChrystal is doing a comprehensive assessment, which is what any military commander does when they take over a significant job.

And the secretary of defense has heard his preliminary report, has asked some questions. It will come up through the chain of command, and then we'll see what...

WALLACE: But if he asks for more troops, you're not ruling it out?

JONES: Not ruling it out at all.

This really just raises more questions then it answers. What does Jones really think about sending more troops? What does Obama really think about sending more troops? Does Jones really know what Obama is thinking? And does the White House have a clear strategy for Afghanistan?

Cross-posted at Conventional Folly

(1) opinions -- Add your opinion