Obama Speech on Afghanistan to Include Explicit Goals
The Times has received some information on United States President Barack Hussein Obama’s speech on Tuesday. The speech will call for an immediate increase of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and will also stress the pressure Obama hopes to put on the Karzai Administration to take over much of the efforts in Afghanistan.
There are a few points of interest in the article. Firstly, the fact that Obama is finally going to present the American people with a clear mission and set of goals for Afghanistan. This is something that Senator Kerry confirmed to me that Obama could not do earlier in the year, because the U.S. did not have an actual strategy with clear cut goals to speak of.
Of course, the need for the U.S. to constantly re-assure Pakistan is more than disconcerting. After all, the U.S. should maintain a long lasting presence in Afghanistan because they do not want another Civil War to break out, for the Taliban to re-constitute, for Al Qaeda to regroup in Afghanistan, and of course for the betterment of the Afghan people in general, not to re-assure a corrupt Pakistani government. If anything, the United States should be putting increased pressure on the Pakistani government to make a legitimate effort at fighting terrorism and extremism in Paksitan:
Although the speech was still in draft form, the officials said the president wanted to use the address at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday night not only to announce the immediate order to deploy roughly 30,000 more troops, but also to convey how he intends to turn the fight over to the Kabul government.
“It’s accurate to say that he will be more explicit about both goals and time frame than has been the case before and than has been part of the public discussion,” said a senior official, who requested anonymity to discuss the speech before it is delivered. “He wants to give a clear sense of both the time frame for action and how the war will eventually wind down.”
The officials would not disclose the time frame. But they said it would not be tied to particular conditions on the ground nor would it be as firm as the current schedule for withdrawing troops in Iraq, where Mr. Obama has committed to withdrawing most combat units by August and all forces by the end of 2011.
Officials of one allied nation who have been extensively briefed on the president’s plan said, however, that Mr. Obama would describe how the American presence would be ratcheted back after the buildup,while making clear that a significant American presence in Afghanistan would remain for a long while. That is designed in part to signal to Pakistan that the United States will not abandon the region and to allay Pakistani fears that India will fill the vacuum created as America pulls back.
Obama’s Speech on Afghanistan to Envision Exit [New York Times]