Obama’s Iraq and Afghanistan Plan

Unless you don’t watch TV and don’t have informed Twitter friends, you know that Obama addressed the military and the U.S. about his strategies and plans for troops in the Iraq and Afghanistan from West Point Military Academy.  Of course, the speech was well thought out and strong (we now expect nothing less from Obama).

However, the news is bittersweet.  For Iraq Obama plans to remove all troops by the end of 2011, saying that the removal is a “testament to the character of the men and women in uniform.”  He then outlined the numerous (and scary) challenges that are being faced in Afghanistan.  The country is still facing control by the Taliban, (by the way… gotta love the way Obama says Taliban.  Cracks me up everytime) the extremist Afghan government that completely controlled Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and protected Al Qaeda.  Through review of the situation in Afghanistan, Obama and his advisors believe that in its current state Afghanistan would not be able to stand on its own.  As a result of the challenges Obama said, addressing the military, “as your Commander in Chief I owe you a mission that is clearly defined.”  The mission calls for 30,000 more troops to go to Afghanistan with the goal of leaving after 18 months.

Obama’s major point throughout the speech was to reinforce that he wants to set up Afghanistan for transition to stable independence.  He even took a moment to address the people of Afghanistan.  Looking directly at the camera he stated, “we have no interest in occupying your country.”

Additionally, Obama turned around and put the price of occupation in context, noting that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost more than $1 trillion, which has basically been debilitating to domestic programs in the wake of the recession.  For this reason, Obama does not want to leave military presence in Afghanistan open ended.  ”The nation that I am most interested in building is our own,” he said.