The number is intriguing and promptly raises the question (in addition to others, such as where the 30,000 will go and what they will do, along with the rest of the troops) of levels he holds in reserve and to what extent he views the troops not sent as a future reserve and how he (already, ahead of time) is thinking of using them if he must or wishes, later.

What I thought was missing was any reference to the Soviet adventures in Afghanistan during the 80's, or why this place is often thought of as a graveyard of empires. Surely the generals in the field and the commanders on the ground are very familiar with what did and did not work when the Soviets tried it. Plus, it wasn't all that long ago. There was a rather interesting interview by CNN with a former Soviet commander regarding the U.S. effort:

“After all who is the leader of a province? If he's not part of the local tribe then nobody's going to pay attention to him.”

He then pointed out how much of Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation was under government control during the day but at night the power shifted to the Mujahideen. “A similar thing is happening presently with the Taliban,” he says. Asked what lessons the coalition can learn from the bitter Soviet experience, the retired general advised western governments to transfer the money being spent on financing troops to the restoration of Afghanistan itself.

“Restoring Afghanistan's economy, its industrial enterprises, its education system, schools and mosques will increase your authority. War can only evoke resistance. Afghans regard war only as an attempt to enslave them.”

In other words, we need to embark on some serious nation-building if we ultimately want to succeed, and Obama ruled that out when he chastised Bush for undertaking these efforts in Iraq.

I don't know why anyone would be against any plan to destroy those who have attacked us in the past and who continue to have the desire, the will, the financing and the followers to attack us again on US soil.

Why would we just let them attack us again without fighting back?

Bush was right to go to Afghanistan but was dead wrong to declare Osama bin-Laden irrelevant and embark on his nation-building (or whatever it was) by attacking Iraq. Bush should have fought our sworn enemies instead of ignoring them after a couple years. If Bush had committed as many troops to finding the people who actually did attack us on US soil as Bush sent into Iraq, then we would not be in this situation today.

Our military is the greatest in the world and they would have completed the job of finding bin-Laden. Unfortunately our military is only as effective as the policies set forth by our Commander in Chief and Bush decided to play politics with it, ignoring our true enemy by going into Iraq. Our military did a superb job in Iraq, unfortunately Bush's goal wasn't to kill the leaders of the group who attacked us on our soil, so we're still looking for bin-Laden. We can argue about whether invading Iraq was worthwhile or not, though I don't see how it could be worthwhile when it meant ignoring our enemies who were actually attacking us and our allies all over the world.

I have this to say to anyone who thought that Obama was more of a dove than a hawk: Where were you before and during Obama's campaign? Obama has always said that some wars are necessary. I remember commenting on here during the campaign that I thought many Americans did not realize how hawkish Obama actually was…. I don't know which cloud they had their heads in, because Obama never tried to hide his belief that he would fight wars to protect America, that he would not fight unnecessary wars.

I trust our military leaders to have the right strategies to accomplish this right goal. My concern is that they are constrained because our resources are bogged down in Iraq and we have limited our options in fighting this necessary war in Afghanistan.

Interesting comment I ran across in the course of my internet travels today, apologies for not getting the source:

To me the the fact that Obama didn’t come to the American People tonight with a big ol’ pie chart showing just how much of the deficit/service of the debt is due to the unfunded wars, overlaid over the health care bill, is just the biggest criminal wrong of this administration so far.

And thanks Joe for the Groucho clip, nice to get a little lift in the midst of all this seriousness.

A point not raised anywhere in the original post. It will be interesting to see if the administration will use the most successful element of the surge in Iraq, playing off various militias and their factions against one another. The Taliban certainly could be cleaved apart, although it would require letting at least a portion of them to be accepted back into Afghan society.

In Iraq the policy to pay off the militias was instituted by the military in place, pretty much without the knowledge of the administration. I can't imagine that happening with the Obama administration so it would require an overt decision on their part.

Also no matter how the idea of an exit strategy plays in the United States I can't help but feel its affect in Afghanistan will be positive. A lot has been made about the failures others have had in military adventures in Afghanistan. However, these have been attempts to conqueror Afghanistan, either directly or by installing a puppet government. . A timetable for withdrawal would help convince the Afghans that we are different and do not have long term designs on them.

Incorrect-

Eisenhower sent the first advisors to Vietnam. Kennedy sent only advisors. LBJ sent the first combat forces in 1965, two years after Kennedy’s death.

Like the Iraqi surge, we should try it one more time, but do it right this time….meaning without Rumsfeld.

If we don't see serious progress in 18 months. Get out.

I didn't listen to the speech. I already knew we were sending in more troops. I didn't need Obama to hold my hand and make me feel better about it.

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If Germany was still harboring Hess, Goering and the rest and never offered them up to justice, Germany would no longer exist IMHO. Word to the wise. The inevitable erosion of a nation follows not far behind the erosion of its honor in the world. Atrocities are atrocities no matter what color the uniform or the flag flying behind them.

Grovelling and offering up honorable lives is no substitution for doing the much cheaper and RIGHT thing: bringing the cause of our problems to justice. The gain/loss ratio in doing so weighs several stones heavier on the gain side vs the decision to keep pissing away blood and money in Af/Pak.