![\"Abshire\"](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2010\/03\/Abshire.jpg\" "\\"Abshire\\"")
While the United States engaged in the conflict in Iraq, Dr. David Abshire said there were years the United States neglected Afghanistan, giving Osama bin Laden and the Taliban time to regroup and go into the mountains. He is grateful the US and its allies are joining together to combat terrorism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t win this militarily. This president [President Barack Obama] knows the human factors are most important, not body counts, not numbers,\u201d Abshire said.<\/p>\n
Chancellor Roger Brown and Abshire discussed \u201cPresident Obama as War and Finance Chief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abshire served as Ambassador to NATO from 1983-87. He served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations from 1970-73. He is currently serving as President and CEO of the Center for the Study of the Presidency in Washington, DC and President of the Richard Lounsbery Foundation in New York. He is the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n
When asked what he would do to reduce deficit spending if he were in President Obama\u2019s shoes, Abshire called the stimulus package \u201ca mixed bag.\u201d As for entitlement programs, he said \u201cSocial Security should be reformed and re-thought. I love Medicare, but I am fortunate in life and I should pay more for it than a poor person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he said he has \u201ccome to admire Obama so much,\u201d he believes the president has made a lot of mistakes, trying to \u201cdo too much. In a way, he was trying to develop a think-tank. Education, energy\u2026it doesn\u2019t work that way because of the Congress.\u201d He contrasted Obama to President Ronald Reagan, who was encouraged to tackle the issues sequentially. \u201cThat\u2019s what Obama didn\u2019t do,\u201d Abshire said.<\/p>\n
Saying Obama \u201cmatches idealism with a sense of realism,\u201d Abshire said the president has \u201cgot character. He came from nothing. He got into Harvard on his own and he became president of the Harvard Law Review. I have real admiration for him; with so many Americans, that has been blurred,\u201d Abshire said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While the United States engaged in the conflict in Iraq, Dr. David Abshire said there were years the United States neglected Afghanistan, giving Osama bin Laden and the Taliban time to regroup and go into the mountains. He is grateful the US and its allies are joining together to combat terrorism.<\/p>\n