Originally Posted by
langleybaston
I thought it said "the buck stops here". But that was several Presidents ago.
The idea that POTUS is not accountable for the actions and decisions of his armed forces {Commander in Chief] is, putting it mildly, troubling..
POTUS isn't accountable for the
misconduct of senior officials working on Afghanistan policy under previous administrations. He is, however, accountable to the electorate for delivering on his promise of ending US involvement. When that same class of officials then offers POTUS the Hobson's choice of a poorly planned withdrawal or the resumption of hostilities with the Taliban, the buck does indeed stop with him. But the only people who get to make that accounting call are the voters: certainly not the officials responsible for the poor plan or years of misconduct. In the meantime, POTUS is perfectly entitled to hold his officials accountable for their professional failures, just as any other commander is entitled to do with their subordinates. If it were otherwise, officials could always control policy by failing to plan in accordance with political direction and presenting their favoured option as a fait accompli. That's not democracy.