Mr. President: Your "Withdrawal From Afghanistan" speech gave us no feelings of pride. You did not exude the strength of a Commander in Chief, nor the emotions from the leader of the free world who should be deeply engaged in an awesome task.

You did not own the speech. We watched a plastic-faced, head-jerking robot deliver programmed words tainted with politics. Even the military setting, chosen to lend authenticity to the subject matter, didn't help.  

Shame on you, Mr. President. Where was the "we're going to win" attitude? Our military waited too long for that support. We waited too long. Our allies waited too long. Yet the words didn't come. What were you thinking?

Did you notice, Mr. President, that there was no roar of the crowd, no thundering West Point applause that comes from an inspiring presence? I watched the faces of those cadets who have chosen the military as their career. There was no enthusiastic spark. There was reserved politeness.

You did accomplish two or three things Tuesday night.

1. You told the enemy your game plan.
2. You telegraphed your weakness, once again.
3. You tried to pacify your supporters and satisfy the opposition and you did neither.

Your announcement should not have been used as a public relations opportunity. The truth is, Mr. President — based on your pre-election campaign, Americans expected that Afghanistan would be your first order of business; that you would have jumped full force into the problem when you took office. You should have ordered the deployment of necessary troops long before this, instead of leaving General McChrystal high and dry and putting more soldiers at risk for months.

You announcement should have been simple and straightforward, on the steps of the White House, in front of a microphone, early one morning.