Bernard & Imogen on Afghanistan, Al Gore, and the former Ambassador to China

The return of Imogen Lloyd Webber and Bernard McGuirk happily coincided with reaction to President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan, in which he announced that 10,000 troops would return home by the end of this year, followed by 20,000 in 2012.
 
“I don’t know if he was ever going to keep everyone particularly happy,” Imogen said. “Party lines can’t agree, let’s face it: the Republicans can’t agree about what should happen, the Democrats can’t agree about what should happen.”
 
She believes the U.S. must get out of Afghanistan if for no other reason than it costs $10 billion a month to stay. While there will never be, in her opinion, “a clear cut win,” Imogen described what losing might look like. “A defeat would be the Taliban coming back,” she said. “A defeat would be the Taliban sponsoring global terrorism again, and that’s not going to happen. There’s too much intelligence now going on in Afghanistan.”
 
Bernard, conversely, thought Obama’s speech was awful. “It was, ‘mission somewhat accomplished,’” he said, pointing out that the drawdown will coincidentally be completed by the time the President is up for reelection. “It’s a disgrace. You either go all the way in, or you get all the way the hell out.”
 
Obama is, in his words, “a sellout,” because he was elected in 2008 to end the war in Afghanistan. “Instead of ending the war, he increased it—not even because he believes it, which is worse,” Bernard said. “He did it for political expediency. He put more troops in there, he did the surge, and now he’s getting out, all for politics.”
 
That Obama is using the troops as “pawns” is, in Bernard’s view, shameful. “These poor guys are fighting for this corrupt government, these ingrate people that never appreciated it,” he said.
 
Imogen insisted there would always be a military presence in Afghanistan, as there was after the Soviets left in the 1980s. But Bernard was adamant: “Bring ‘em home, man. Bring ‘em home.”
 
Neither Bernard nor Imogen cares much about the Casey Anthony trial in Florida, but they both eagerly voiced their opinions on the state’s Governor, Rick Scott, signing legislation that requires adults applying for welfare to undergo drug screenings.
 
“If you’re going to receive government money, you can’t be sitting there nodding off in your house with a needle sticking out of your arm, while your kids are eating three-week old Cheerios,” Bernard said. Imogen suggested the state provide drug treatment programs for people who test positive, but Bernard wouldn’t budge. “Throw them out in the streets, take the kids.”
 
If former Vice President Al Gore had it his way, those streets would be paved with sustainable tar. Since he just won’t go away, this week Gore criticized Obama’s lax attitude about climate change, even though, as Imogen observed, the President has been supportive of clean energy to the extent Congress has allowed.
 
Not one to mince words, Bernard offered that not only is Obama a sellout on the war, he’s a sellout on the banking industry and the environment as well. “It’s all about him,” Bernard said. “It’s all about politics, it’s about getting reelected, and he can sellout his base on stupid stuff like climate change because he knows that come 2012, they’re not going to vote for, say, Michele Bachmann or Mitt Romney over him.”
 
They’re also not going to vote Jon Huntsman, the former Governor of Utah and Ambassador to China who threw his hat into the ring for the Republican nomination for president just a few days ago. Despite Imogen’s wish that a candidate as qualified as Hunstman would be taken seriously, Imus had some news for his naïve, British guest.
 
“He might as well campaign speaking Mandarin Chinese,” Imus said. “Because you’re right: he’s not going to get elected to anything.”
 
-Julie Kanfer