The Foxhole: Michael G. Waltz on trading the SitRoom for Special Forces, the stalemate in Afghanistan, and Obama as commander-in-chief

Watching the speech in his headquarters in Eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border, was Michael G. Waltz, a Green Beret and U.S. Army Special Forces commander who had watched men die right in front of him and who was struggling at the time to enlist the cooperation of local tribe elders in the coalition fight against the Taliban. When the president had finished speaking, one of Waltz's officers turned to him incredulously, as Waltz recalled in a recent visit to "The Foxhole," and said: "That's like Franklin Delano Roosevelt announcing D-Day but then announcing its withdrawal! What do you think the Germans would have done?" "He's just told the world we are leaving," said another dumbstruck officer. "Who the hell is going to risk their life to work with us now?"