A "modest but meaningful" sacrifice.

or, Mission Unaccomplished.

By Greg Jaffe

HONOLULU — A deeply conflicted President Obama warned earlier this year when he extended the American troop presence in Afghanistan that he did not support “the idea of endless war.”

For Obama, the deaths Monday of six U.S. soldiers near Bagram air base underscore the perils of his decision to keep as many as 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through much of next year.

A war that Obama had pledged to end before he left office is now increasingly looking endless.
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The most recent deaths, coming just before Christmas and just a few months after Obama’s decision to extend the longest war in American history into his successor’s presidency, are likely to stick with the president.
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The deaths come at a particularly fraught moment in the long and often overshadowed Afghan war. In October, a U.S. warplane launched a barrage of strikes against a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, killing as many as 30 people and drawing widespread condemnation.
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More recently, Taliban forces have made big gains throughout southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the site of some of the heaviest American casualties during the height of the U.S. troop presence. Afghan civilian casualties are at an all-time high for the 14-year war, according to the United Nations...

In October, he described the change in plans as a “modest but meaningful extension of our presence” that could make “a real difference” in Afghanistan, and emphasized that U.S. troops would not be taking part in direct combat or patrolling Afghan villages. Instead Obama said they would focus on “two narrow but critical missions”: advising Afghan forces and launching targeted counterterrorism strikes against groups that threatened the United States or its allies.

The Taliban’s growing strength and the Afghan army’s struggles have drawn U.S. troops deeper into a combat role than many expected. In Kunduz, American Special Operations teams on the ground called in the mistaken strike that destroyed the Doctors Without Borders hospital. In restive Helmand province, Special Operations soldiers have been working alongside Afghan troops on the front lines.
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In his announcement extending the U.S. presence, Obama acknowledged the inherent peril of the remaining work, even if he declined to call it combat. ... He praised Afghan troops for fighting “bravely and tenaciously,” even as he admitted they were “still not as strong as they need to be” to hold off the Taliban and ensure that groups such as al-Qaeda never return to Afghanistan.

Twice in response to a shouted question from a reporter, Obama insisted that his decision not to end the war as planned was not a “disappointment.”

But the six deaths on Monday underscore Obama’s growing sense that he will leave office with one of his toughest and most important missions unfulfilled.

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In other news Monday:   The reporter here forgot the 5th W, a question that surely pops up in most readers' minds... When was this episode taped? (The president being in Hawaii these days himself.)

The president will appear in an episode of Mr. Seinfeld’s web series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” to be released on Dec. 30, the White House said Monday.

In the show, Mr. Obama and Mr. Seinfeld take turns driving a blue 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split-window coupe around the White House driveway encircling the South Lawn, and then sit in a basement dining room to chat about what it’s like being president.

 I get the Bear Grylls special with the president -- where Mr. Obama confessed to the British narrator that what he most feared was ... Michelle, when she gets a certain angry look in her eyes ! (I couldn't believe what I was hearing either...) -- was taped over the summer, before things heated up on the international scene, and likely seemed a good idea at the time. for the charismatic president.

But Comedians in Cars with coffee?  Are you joking me?  This can't wait until the man is out of office... ?

“The president and Jerry had a unique, candid conversation that focused largely on the lighter side of the presidency,” said a White House statement on Monday.

(He's a president, not a comedian.  Stop your laughing, Jerry.)
Reminds me of Jonathan Gruber, who pointed out in a politically incorrect way who exactly was the butt of the jokes, on the receiving end, so to speak...

MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, who claimed the authors of ObamaCare took advantage of what he called the "stupidity of the American voter," played a much bigger role in the law's drafting than previously acknowledged...

But that's another TV show, to be created another day...