The president, noting that long-term Afghanistan strategy remains open, OKs 17K more troops; Russ Feingold wants to be sure we have a strategy

by Ken

So, now, the president has made his first decision on Afghanistan, concluding:

This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires. That is why I ordered a review of our policy upon taking office, so we have a comprehensive strategy and the necessary resources to meet clear and achievable objectives in Afghanistan and the region. This troop increase does not pre-determine the outcome of that strategic review. Instead, it will further enable our team to put together a comprehensive strategy that will employ all elements of our national power to fulfill achievable goals in Afghanistan. As we develop our new strategic goals, we will do so in concert with our friends and allies as together we seek the resources necessary to succeed.

In the Washington Independent, Spencer Ackerman included the announcement with his take:

He promised to do so on the campaign trail, and now he’s done it: President Obama has approved a troop increase to Afghanistan. His just-released statement is below. Notice that the forces approved appear to be less than the 20,000-30,000 troops requested by Gen. David McKiernan, commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Also notice that Obama says that the troop increase does not “pre-determine” his ongoing strategy review.

(In an update, Spencer took note of a subsequent Pentagon statement that clarifies the new troop commitment as, in his words, "12,000 combat soldiers and marines, plus another 5,000 support troops, for a plus-up of 17,000 by the summer.")

On Afghanistan, I'm still where I was the other day:

It's just that if you put together what the smart people are saying (and there are smart people, people I respect, on all sides of this issue)

* We can't in the name of decency stand by and do nothing.

* Yet there's nothing we can do that isn't all but guaranteed to actually make the situation even worse -- and that at a tremendous cost in bloodshed, destruction, and dollars.

I like this statement issued yesterday by Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold:

After years of a failed foreign policy which distracted us from our top national security priority of defeating al Qaeda and its affiliates, I am encouraged by President Obama's focus on Afghanistan where the 9/11 attacks originated. But we need to make sure we have a strategy in place for Afghanistan that will actually work before we commit thousands more U.S. troops. A military escalation without a strategy to address the complex problems facing Afghanistan and the region could alienate the Afghan people and make it much more difficult to achieve our top national security goal of defeating al Qaeda.

Senator Feingold's office also directs us to a seriously well-informed op-ed the senator wrote for the Christian Science Monitor in October. The deck was: "Before sending more brave men and women there, let's question conventional wisdom. It will take more than military might to succeed in Afghanistan."

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