Afg - You Decide

Obama will increase troop levels by 30,000; he asked allied countries for help. Finally, he has told the enemy when we plan to depart.

We want Obama to do the right thing. Did he?

Make no mistake. Obama has been privy to extensive briefings on the Afg situation, during his months in office and before. In March he said it was his intent to dedicate the time and resources necessary to stabilize the region and contain al Qaeda and the Taliban. In August he reaffirmed this commitment, acknowledging the key of defeating the Taliban, to US security. He called Afg a "war of necessity".

So he asked McChrystal for help. McChrystal responded with three troop level scenarios, each graded by risk:1) an additional 20,000 troops that would run a "high risk of failure"; 2) an additional 80,000 troops that would be a "low risk option" that has "the best chance to contain the Taliban-led insurgency" and 3) an additional 40,000 to 45,000 troop "medium risk option".

So BO picks 30,000 (between a high and medium risk of failure), then a hail mary that NATO will kick in the rest. What fool believes that? These nations are too accustomed to the US umbrella of protection to fight their way out of a wet paper bag.

Three more years.


Robert Craven