Obama Speech Reaction

“As Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan.” - President Obama.

There is an elemental tension between having a short "time bound" surge - as one senior administration official put it in a conference call with bloggers after the speech - and the urgent requirement to pour in additional U.S. forces now.

The official went on to say that the administration explicitly rejected a "10 year nation building" strategy, in addition to leaving now or standing pat.

But if the situation is as urgent and portentous as the administration says it is today, and conditions aren't measurably improved in 18 months, I don't see how you could leave. If it would be irresponsible and wrong today to do anything other than surge, what could possibly change in 18 months? The administration may reject the "10 year nation building" strategy, but the rhetoric it has used to justify the current strategy sets them on a clear path towards such a commitment.