A Hidden Agenda

I attended a memorial service last night for an acquaintance that I have known for the past several years.  He was a very smart and savvy businessman here in Southwest Florida who was one of those rare people who reads constantly, traveled widely and was a member of a ‘critical thinking’ group here in Naples.  The group would meet once a week and discuss world and national issues and possible solutions to problems we have all been thinking about over the last several years.  I was not a member, but at the service last night I met several of the people who were, and they were people who were not afraid to engage in conversation about anything of import.

I started talking with a man who was perhaps in his mid eighties, and as we remembered my friend, this gentleman revealed that he was very much ‘left’ of center while our friend was clearly ‘right’ of center, but they were good friends nonetheless and could argue energetically without malice.  The reason I relate this to all of you is that we spent the better part of 30 minutes discussing President Obama (who he had strongly supported in last years election) and the speech he was about to make last night.

This man, who I will call Hal, was very concerned that the President was not fulfilling the promise of ‘people mandated‘ change in the country.  Hal said that Obama was having to sacrifice the mandate he had won just to get anything done, which speaks volumes about the process in Washington of getting consensus on anything. 

Now with this moment of decision about troop commitment in Afghanistan, Hal was fearful that we would be drawn into a commitment that no one wanted, but that Obama felt compelled to pursue because of the security issues that demanded continued vigilance against the terrorist threat from abroad.

I started thinking about that, and frankly, I am not as concerned about our ‘security’ as so many on the right seem to be.  Hal agreed.  Then he asked a question that was chilling, “Do you think that perhaps there is a threat that none of us really knows about that has compelled Obama to adjust his thinking?”  I asked him what he meant (already knowing what he was going to say!)
“What do you suppose happened to the 50 or so nuclear warheads that the Russians ‘misplaced’ when the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s?  No one knows where they are.  Suppose there are people who do know where they are and are afraid to let any of us know.”

That is a scary thought.  We have all been told repeatedly that there are controls on those devices and ‘as far as we can tell’ all are still secure. 

Do I really believe that?  Do you? 

Is it possible we feel compelled to pursue this band of rag tag Al Qaeda terrorists because there is a threat out there that no one is talking about publicly?  Hal just looked at me and his face took on a kind of pitiful smirk.  “There are many people who think we are not being told the entire truth about the threat.”

Suddenly, Obama’s position makes a little more sense. 

My own personal view is that we are on a fool’s errand in Afghanistan.  There is no way the  President can guarantee that we will start withdrawing troops in 2011.  Too many variables can disrupt that timetable.  But if there is a hidden agenda that we don’t know about, it might explain his compulsion to pursue this course of action, rather than to be strong enough to disengage and start focusing on nation building in the United States.

Hal looked at me, shook my hand and said, “Nice to meet you!”,  and I was suddenly more concerned than before we had met.