On last Tuesday night, in front of attentive Cadets at West Point, President Obama laid out his long-awaited speech concerning his war strategy for Afghanistan. It had taken him months of deliberation to finally agree on a strategy for the war he considered “necessary” and “vital” during his presidential campaign.
Obama had begun to receive increasing criticism and pressure from both sides of the aisle- with Republicans urging the president to make a quicker decision and encouraging him to seriously consider following Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s request for an additional 40,000 troops. Democrats however have suddenly soured on the war and many within their ranks are beginning to question if we should even continue sending troops into the area at all. Some democrats have even called for a complete withdraw of US forces in Afghanistan.
For a president who ran his campaign on the fact that he never agreed with going to war with Iraq this puts the President into a peculiar position. President Obama is an anti-war democrat who gained a lot of support and money from powerful and important liberal, anti-war, grassroots movements like Moveon.org and Codepink. These groups are vital for his re-election campaign because of their influential connections, big donations, and extensive volunteer lists. He knows that it is important to remain on their good side; however he also knows that he cannot be seen as being weak internationally in a war which he has stated was important for the safety of our country and for the future stabilization of the region.
In the end, President Obama made a wise decision by committing an additional 30,000 troops to be deployed quickly to the region. This will provide an immediate “surge” of US forces- first of highly trained US Marines, then followed by the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, with additional US troops being deployed shortly after.
The President made an intelligent choice by deploying a considerable number of troops to join the initial 21,000 he sent in February. By agreeing to send a substantial amount of US forces now it should prevent him from needing to send anymore additional troops over in the near future. If, for instance, he only committed 15,000 troops now and things began to turn for the worse in the theatre then Obama may have needed to send additional reinforcements- making his decision making seem shaky- especially when his general asked for a considerably higher number. For this Obama needs to be applauded. It also shows he understands that he knows how important his decision will be with independent voters when 2012 rolls around.
This strategy was inspiring because of the level of skepticism within his administration. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Vice President Biden both were against sending more troops to the region and publicly displayed their feelings for committing additional troops. These doubts shown by some of his top aides may have contributed to President Obama’s prolonged decision, yet in the end, he went against his V.P and S.S and listened to his advisors from the Pentagon.
The only criticism I have concerning his plan was providing an 18 month timetable for withdraw.
“Taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011.”
Which coincidentally occurs right as campaign season for the 2012 presidential elections will start to begin.
For some reason, President Obama has become infatuated with these timelines and timetables for many of his policies. The problem with this is that he has yet to reach one of them. He will not be able to close Guantanamo Bay by the end of this year, as promised, didn’t meet his August 1st Health Care legislation deadline, and has pushed back government incentives benefits, which he promised would be “temporary jolts”, but are looking more and more, like they will become new permanent government entitlement programs.
By setting an 18 month deadline to withdraw the troops in Afghanistan, he is essentially telling the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to take an extended vacation to their safe havens in Yemen or Somalia for a year or two then simply return because we will be gone. This doesn’t help to defeat the enemy; it just provides them with a game plan to regroup after our set 18 month deadline. The other problematic thing about this is that if he does not reach his prearranged withdraw by July 2011; he again, begins to lose trust with the public and it makes his administration look inept.
President Obama’s speech Tuesday night was average one for such a great orator, yet for a “dove” he showed some serious determination to try and defeat this dangerous enemy. I think that he is very worried about being a wartime president and realizes how quickly public perception can turn on its leaders when in war. I think that the president made a good decision and the right decision concerning his troop increase and now he will need to wait and see how he will respond when our troops inevitable begin dying in combat and if he will lose the war in the battle of the media.
As President Obama ended his speech he said:
“America - we are passing through a time of great trial. And the message that we send in the midst of these storms must be clear: that our cause is just, our resolve unwavering. We will go forward with the confidence that right makes might, and with the commitment to forge an America that is safer, a world that is more secure, and a future that represents not the deepest of fears but the highest of hopes. Thank you, God Bless you, God Bless our troops, and may God Bless the United States of America.”
As our President, I hope he has the unwavering resolve which he speaks of and the confidence to not be swayed by the media’s perception of this battle because he made the right decision and they brought this war to us and they need to pay dearly for messing with America.
