Okay, I finally am able to get around to writing about the speech and announcement gave by the President on the new troop levels in Afghanistan. First off, in the interest of full disclosure; I did not listen to the entire speech. I was doing something else and realized the speech was on and I turned it on, when the President was giving his speech. I heard over half of the speech; but I heard enough to tell you what I think about it, without in partisan spin or Republican talking points.
First off, it seemed to me that the President was selling the idea of the additional troops to the left. Barring the standard talking points of the far right and of the Fox News/Sean Hannity crowd; that there was not enough of them, that he was dithering and so forth, I really did not have an issue with what was being proposed. My feeling is this — We will simply have to wait and see. Iraq was cut and dry, Afghanistan is very different horse of a different color. There are more issues at hand and I suspect that this mission is going to be a bit more difficult. There are some on the right, which think we should just roll up, pull out, and not make the same mistake as Russia made in that area back in the 1980’s. That way, when the Taliban takes back over and Al-Qaeda hits America again, the Republican Party will be able to blame the Democrats; thereby destroying their credibility. Personally, I believe that is a sick mentality, but there are those on the right that feel that way, I know, I have read the comments sections of their blogs.
As for the people of Afghanistan; they were less then impressed by the bluster of the President:
Thirty thousand more U.S. troops for Afghanistan? Esmatullah only shrugged.
“Even if they bring the whole of America, they won’t be able to stabilize Afghanistan,” said the young construction worker out on a Kabul street corner on Wednesday morning. “Only Afghans understand our traditions, geography and way of life.”
[….]
Shopkeeper Ahmad Fawad, 25, said it would not help.
“The troops will be stationed in populated areas where the Taliban will somehow infiltrate and then may attack the troops,” he said. “Instead of pouring in more soldiers, they need to focus on equipping and raising Afghan forces, which is cheap and easy.”
For many, the prospect of more troops meant one thing: more civilian deaths.
“More troops will mean more targets for the Taliban and the troops are bound to fight, and fighting certainly will cause civilian casualties,” Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, a former Afghan prime minister, told Reuters.
“The civilian casualties will be further a blow to the U.S. image and cause more indignation among Afghans.”
“It was a very wonderful speech for America … but when it comes to strategy in Afghanistan there was nothing really new which was disappointing,” she told Reuters from her home.
“It seems to me that President Obama is very far away from the reality and truth in Afghanistan. His strategy was to pay lip-service, and did not focus on civilians, nation-building, democracy and human rights.”
Other Afghans, hardened by decades of war and wary of foreign forces whom have for years fought proxy battles in Afghanistan, were skeptical of the United States’ intentions.
Kabul money changer Ehsanullah wondered why U.S. forces had managed to find former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but had yet to locate Al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden or Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who both fled U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2001.
“This is part of America’s further occupation of Afghanistan,” he said. “America is using the issue of insecurity here in order to send more troops.”
There is no two ways about it; President Obama is got his work cut out for him for the next year. He does make a very decent salary as President. Do not be deceived to think that he will not be working for it. Because now the President is out of the frying pan and into the fire, this is where his job is going to get very interesting.
I just hope, for America’s sake, that the President knows what he is doing.