The World Is Spinning Around Out Of Control Again

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In the most important political news of the past week, last Tuesday President Obama gave his West Point Address (part one of the speech can be viewed above).  While the topics varied to things like job creation and healthcare, most of the focus was on the War in Afghanistan.  The Huffington Post did a story covering the speech just hours after it ended.

"Declaring "our security is at stake," President Barack Obama ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops into the long war in Afghanistan Tuesday night, nearly tripling the force he inherited as commander in chief. He promised an impatient public he would begin bringing units home in 18 months.

The buildup to about 100,000 troops will begin almost immediately – the first Marines will be in place by Christmas – and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone.

In a prime-time speech at the U.S. Military Academy, the president told the nation his new policy was designed to "bring this war to a successful conclusion," though he made no mention of defeating Taliban insurgents or capturing al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden."
[Read Full Article Here]

Obama went on to say that we must not give al-Qaida a "safe haven" and we must prepare the Afghani government to handle this issue on their own.  There has been slightly odd reaction to the speech.  In an unusual event for this nation's politics, there is not a clear partisan divide on the opinion of this speech.
If there is any side leaning more toward approval of the speech, it seems to be the Republican side.  The Democrats would generally like to see a more swift resolution.  Eighteen months seems to long to most congressional Democrats to still be in Afghanistan.  Republicans, on the other hand, are worried that the withdrawl may still come to soon.

In listening to the pundits on multiple stations after the speech, it seems that the Republicans were happier with the content of the speech, but they still said that he was by no means the eloquent speaker we have come to know.  The Democrats seemed to think he spoke very well and the speech was well done, although they disagree with the content.

Another Republicans worry is that Obama is not doing enough to fix Afghanistan.  There has been some criticism from the right due to the fact that General McChrystal asked for about 50,000-60,000 more troops and Obama only gave him 30,000.  Glenn Beck said Obama is making a mistake because "you must listen to your generals."  I agree that a president must listent to the advice of his generals, but he does not need to follow their instructions implicitly.  He is the Commander-in-Chief and ultimately makes those decisions based on the opinions of the lower ranking officers in the military.  Also, what general has ever asked for fewer troops?  They always want more troops.  It is appropriate that the president would consider the necessity for more troops but make his own decision on just how many were needed.

The other issue for Republicans is that Obama stated a withdrawl rate.  John McCain said, "The way that you win wars is to break the enemy's will, not to announce dates that you are leaving."  I understand his sentiment; however, the enemies know that we have been planning on leaving and there must be some sort of warning.  It was meant more as a deadline to Afghanistan's officials to tell them when they will be on their own and give them time to prepare to take over this fight as their own.  We can't just up and leave them one day to fend for themselves with no warning.

As far as Democrat's worries about the withdrawl coming to late, I am on the fence.  I absolutely think we should have an exit strategy.  This war is costing far too much, in money and in lives.  However, I feel that I must trust the decision that has been reached amongst the president and his advisors and believe they know better than I do when it comes to appropriate timing.  If 18 months is what we need to get Afghanistan to a somewhat stable position so it's security can be safely handed over to their own officials, then I think 18 months is what we need.  It would be nice for the troops and the budget if we could get out sooner, but that leaves a risk of it all falling apart and us ending up back in that country for even longer.

Overall I think it was a pretty good speech, although it was by no means Obama's best.  His best speeches come in the forms of hopes and dreams.  A speech about Afghanistan is about as uplifting as a lecture in economics.  The material just isn't their for him to give his best.  I think he stated a clear and workable plan, though, and has left a more bi-partisan (or perhaps less partisan) opinion of that plan.  Now we just have to wait and see what happens.