President Obama National Address, 12/1/09

Tonight President Obama made what he deemed to be his first address intended for the whole nation, and although I am somewhat far from being an Obama supporter I was extremely impressed with what he had to say, which is why I felt that a recap of his speech and some of my reactions was worthy of a blog post.

The speech was on the ongoing war in Afghanistan and appropriately was given at West Point, in front of a whole lot of cadets who have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan or who may later go to the front lines.

The full transcript of the address can be found here, or you can find the 35-minute video somewhere on YouTube. Here's my recap:

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Obama starts off by justifying our presence in Afghanistan, claiming that it was not we who picked the fight, and that the entire world was united in the fight against terrorism until the Iraq war began creating rifts between the US and its allies.

"It's important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people... Just days after 9/11, Congress authorized the use of force against al Qaeda and those who harbored them -- an authorization that continues to this day. The vote in the Senate was 98 to nothing. The vote in the House was 420 to 1. For the first time in its history, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article 5 -- the commitment that says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all. And the United Nations Security Council endorsed the use of all necessary steps to respond to the 9/11 attacks. America, our allies and the world were acting as one to destroy al Qaeda's terrorist network and to protect our common security."

Obama then announces the withdrawal from Iraq of combat brigades by the end of summer and of all troops by 2011. However, he notes that meanwhile the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated, claiming that amidst the reemergence of the Taliban and the harboring of terrorists in the Afghan caves and in parts of Pakistan "the status quo is not sustainable." Thus, Obama announces that the US will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in early 2010 until July 2011. He sets a specific number of troops and a set time period for financial reasons, saying that especially in our current financial state, we need to budget our resources. Towards the end of the speech, he estimates the cost for the war this year to be $30 billion, contrasting it with the $1 trillion already invested to date in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The bulk of Obama's central argument in the middle of the speech is organized in a nice bullet-point fashion that makes his objectives, justifications, and plans easy to follow:

• Main goal - Defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan to prevent them from threatening America and its allies.
• Objectives
1. Deny Al Qaeda a safe haven.
2. Deny Al Qaeda the ability to overthrow the government.
3. Strengthen Afghanistan's security forces and government.
• Plans to achieve objectives
1. Military strategy to fight the Taliban
• Troop surge to target Taliban insurgency and secure cities
• Train Afghan troops as quickly as possible so that US troops can transfer responsibility to them by July 2011.
2. Civilian strategy to strengthen government and security
• "The days of providing a blank check are over... We'll support Afghan ministries, governors, and local leaders that combat corruption and deliver for the people. We expect those who are ineffective or corrupt to be held accountable."
• "We have no interest in occupying your country... we will seek a partnership with Afghanistan grounded in mutual respect -- to isolate those who destroy; to strengthen those who build; to hasten the day when our troops will leave; and to forge a lasting friendship in which America is your partner, and never your patron."
  
3. Partnership with Pakistan
• "We're in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country. But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan. That's why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border... The Pakistani army has waged an offensive in Swat and South Waziristan. And there is no doubt that the United States and Pakistan share a common enemy."
• Commit to partnership with Pakistan during and after the war.
• Response to common concerns
1. Concern: Afghanistan is just another Vietnam.
• Response: Unlike Vietnam, we have 43 nations backing us, we're against a smaller number of enemies, and our enemy is still a direct threat to us.
2. Concern: We have no need for a troop buildup.
• Response: The status quo is unacceptable and may actually prolong the war and cost more because we need to be training the Afghan government and forces as soon as possible so that we can hand things over to them.
3. Concern: We shouldn't be setting a time frame.
• Response: We need the time frame to give a sense of urgency in ending this war. Additionally, this will help us budget our resources to avoid overspending.

The remainder of the speech is mostly the obligatory dose of inspirational speech that is appropriate for the end of such a serious address. My favorite quotation from the last segment:

"It's easy to forget that when this war began, we were united -- bound together by the fresh memory of a horrific attack, and by the determination to defend our homeland and the values we hold dear. I refuse to accept the notion that we cannot summon that unity again."

*****

An interesting response to the address is John McCain's, who claims that setting a timetable will merely cause the Taliban to go underground until the troop withdrawal. This may certainly be true, but I think if this turns out to be the case, we'd find out early on and be able to train the Afghan forces in the meantime anyway. The withdrawal within 18 months may still be reasonable.

Michael Moore also had an interesting though less respectable response, going so far as to label Obama the "New War President" and even drawing analogies between Obama and Bush on the main page of his website. In an open letter he wrote yesterday that is worth skimming through, Moore begs Obama not to order the troop surge. This letter of course does not make me view Michael Moore any more positively or negatively than I did before, though I am in a way refreshed to see that Moore is not so much a hardcore partisan (i.e. Democrat) as much as just a crazy guy with strong views and an ability to make people believe anything. I can't wait to hear what he has to say tomorrow!

As I've stated earlier, I am overall very impressed with Obama's speech and plan tonight. The address is already drawing fire from both the Democrats and Republicans, but largely that is just partisan politics at play. I have great respect at this time for President Obama for putting the partisan politics aside and standing ground with what he thinks is best for the country.