Harry Reid Likes Obama's No-Macho Afghanistan Plan

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

President Barack Obama's methodical approach to addressing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is winning him strong support among Democrats in Congress. "There's no chest thumping, there's no 'Bring it on,' there's no 'Mission accomplished,' " Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a media breakfast roundtable. Instead, he said, Obama is "stressing things that should have been stressed" before. Specifically, Reid welcomed Obama's announcement today of the deployment of some 4,000 military trainers to Afghanistan. Reid said that the Afghan Army is better than the Iraqi Army and that the trainers should have a big impact on improving the military conditions there. He also said that Obama's approach is more comprehensive than that taken by former President Bush. He noted that Obama is beefing up U.S. agricultural aid, and not just in programs to eradicate poppy farming for drugs. The senator said that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has been involved in developing an agriculture plan for Afghanistan. "I am satisfied with what's going on in Afghanistan," Reid said.

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