General McChrystal Asks For 80,000 More Troops To Make Afghanistan “Low Risk,” Obama Sending 34,000
Which illustrates perfectly, I think, exactly the sort of finger-in-the-wind politician Obama is. He doesn’t want to just give General McChrystal the troops he needs to succeed because that might upset his rabidly anti-war base. But he can’t just leave the General to twist in the wind either, so he’s got to do something.
So instead of a decision one way on Iraq - win or go home - Obama is looking to choose some limp-wristed middle ground.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is nearing a decision to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he may not announce it until after he consults with key allies and completes a trip to Asia later this month, administration and military officials have told McClatchy.
As it now stands, the administration’s plan calls for sending three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. and a Marine brigade, for a total of as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops. ...
The plan would fall well short of the 80,000 troops that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, suggested as a “low-risk option” that would offer the best chance to contain the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilize Afghanistan.
It splits the difference between two other McChrystal options: a “high-risk” one that called for 20,000 additional troops and a “medium-risk” one that would add 40,000 to 45,000 troops.
Much like the war in Iraq, I’ve supported the war in Afghanistan since day #1. I support the war in Afghanistan now more than ever. Now that we’ve committed our troops to the ground giving up and coming home, whatever the pretenses our political leadership tries to paint that decision with, would be a disaster for our foreign policy when already our enemies are feeling emboldened with Obama at the tiller.
That being said, I would rather Obama pull out immediately and bring out troops home than do a half-assed job of trying to win the war. Better to give up and face the consequences of that decision than to continue to put our troops in harms way in a mission our commander-in-chief is only marginally committed to winning.
