Barack Obama announces a troop surge of 30,000 in Afghanistan
Barack Obama has finally made a decision on the Afghanistan war. In his speech tonight he made official what we had heard his decision was; he will be sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.
Once it was learned the General McChrystal believed that the war would be lost without a troop surge there were only two options that I thought would be justified; either go all in or get out.
If Barack Obama was not willing to send in the troops that were needed to win this war than it was time to begin the withdrawal. The war would have been lost and any more bloodshed would have been in vein.
If Barack Obama believed that withdrawal was not an option than the only acceptable response, in my opinion, would be for him to give the general the troops that he needed to bring home victory.
To do nothing and to tell the general to make do with what he had was the one option that I could not have supported.
Tonight Barack Obama announced he was willing to send General McChrystal the troops that he needed. General McChrystal had requested 40,ooo troops and Barack Obama has committed an additional 30,000 troops, not quite the number that the general requested but I am not sure that the troop differential is a big deal. I am willing to concede that General McChrystal may have been aiming high with his number knowing that the eventual number would be lower. A standard negotiating tactic.
It is not often that I give the president credit but this is one such time, I am glad that he listened to his general on the ground and has committed the troops that he believes is necessary to win this war. Let us hope that the additional troops will make all of those who are already over there more safe and let us hope that this will be the final push needed before we bring our troops home victorious.
America's Watchtower 
I have to agree, Mr. Pink Eyes. This is one time that I will support President Obama. I have no doubt that he would much rather pull out of the war and let the Afghans sort things out for themselves. However, he is nothing if not practical and I believe that is the face we are seeing right now.
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This had to be a tough decision for him, he is going against his base. But he did the right thing and I hope that it works out. The one thing that I will not do is to politicize the war, I think that does our men in women in the service a disservice, I will support whatever the president decides is necessary.
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Afghanistan BROKE Soviet Russia… We helped… Now the shoe is on the other foot and Russia is doing the helping… This bullshit has digressed to being nothing more than back door political wrangling and a sad reproduction of the old Mad Magazine cartoon, Spy vs Spy…
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Many think that McCrystal got half a loaf on this one. Actually he requested 40,000 – 80,000 troops with 40,000 being the bare minimum. Maybe some think that half a loaf, but not me. Yes, I will have to support Obama for the moment little else I can do. I do see however his heart and the will and conviction of the commander-in-chief is vital, without it there can be NO victory and only defeat in Afghanistan and a blind man can see that. Anyone who thinks differently is living in a foggy dreamland devoid of reality.
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I thought that the original number was 80,000 but when I did a quick search I saw 40,000 so I went with it. I hope that Obama came to his number after consulting other military personnel and not for political reasons. I found quite a bit wrong with his speech, from telling the enemy when we are going to leave to admitting that he is unwilling to spend too much money to fight the enemy. The most important job the president has is protecting the American people and this is the one aspect where he appears he might be ready to be fiscally responsible.
I don’t think that he was the will to see this through and I think his speech told us that. I hope that I am wrong. I want to see victory in Afghanistan and I hope that Obama delivers it, but just pulling out in eighteen months does not mean that we won.
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And didn’t he sound angry and defensive? I really don’t understand how he can say he’ll send 30,000 troops starting in 6 months and start pulling troops out 12 months after that. What am I missing?
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Most of the troops won’t even be in there for a year, so we are supposed to believe that the withdrawl will be started just six months after the full force of the surge is in there? I honestly believe that because a troop surge is so unpopular with his base that he claimed he would begin withdrawal in 18 months to try to appease them. He is trying to tell them that the only was to ensure a withdrwal is to send in more troops. He is trying to sit on both sides of the fence. He is looking at this whole issue politically instead of militarily.
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