Troop Surge Episode Two: Afghanistan

Yesterday was President Obama's big speech attempting to sell to the nation his decision to increase the United States' military presence in war-torn Afghanistan by 30,000 troops. Many people on both sides of the aisle disagreed with this decision, largely believing that the war is too costly and insurmountable. Mr. Obama did sway a few hearts on the issue, and even though I generally swing for the liberals, I am among those supporting Obama's decision.


First, let's take a look at an early precedent set by Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush. When the situation in Iraq was as stagnant as the one currently seen in Afghanistan, Mr. Bush sold the nation on a much contested troop surge, which despite the negative ramifications, achieved its goal and put Iraq on the road (albeit the slow one) to true and lasting recovery.

It comes as no surprise to me that Obama reached this decision (after much deliberation with appropriate cabinet and staff members) considering the damage being to America efforts in the largely Taliban controlled state. I've been reading about this surge in the New York Times for weeks, and was totally prepared for this announcement.

Lots of liberals take issue with the idea of "escalation" as though adding more troops to the conflict automatically means more fighting and more death. Yes, these are unfortunate side effects of any conflict, however I am convinced that the increased presence will lead to more effective operations and hopefully root out weapons stockpiles and enemy stronghold leading to an overall decline in violence.

It is important to remember that this decision was not reached lightly, and is in fact one Mr. Obama has been stewing over since the campaign trail. I am largely a pacifist and oppose war as a rule. So how can I possibly agree with this increased military presence? Simply put, the alternative would be worse. If we, as a nation, attempted to do the job we're compelled to do in Afghanistan with the force we currently have there we would never be able to reverse the trend of violence, Taliban control, and governmental corruption (an obvious symptom of decreased security). The sad truth of the matter is that we got into this mess, and while I largely disagree with that and the handling of it for the most part, we cannot simply walk away. To walk away would not only tarnish our reputation as a benevolent nation by invading another and leaving it war torn, but it would leave massive holes into which extremists would funnel and only further decrease the security of this country as well as Afghanistan.

President Obama is not sending an imperial army to subdue the nation of Afghanistan for American profit. Let's face it, the only real product Afghanistan has that Americans are interested in is opium, and you can't even tax that. The troop surge is meant to help reign in a conflict that has gotten out of control. More American forces there will mean better containment of weapons and extremists and can only help to speed our exit from the country when the time is appropriate. I will gladly say that I wish we had never gotten into this conflict or the one in Iraq, but now that we are, we need to finish it as effectively and peacefully as possible and I believe this surge is a good way to do that.

To wrap this up, allow me to paraphrase (very roughly) a quote I read in the New York Times this morning, "I am glad Obama is increasing troop presence in Iraq, but I'm unhappy because I know he is not doing it because he wants to, he's doing it to appease Republicans." (Remember, that is a ROUGH paraphrase) First of all, I hope Mr. Obama is not sending troops because he wants to. Who honestly wants to put America's finest young men and women in harms way? Could it be that the President is taking this action, begrudgingly, because that is what the situation calls for? Yes, he may be compromising typically Democratic ideals, but there is a job to be done, and it needs to be done well, and this has worked before, so hopefully it can work again. I, like many others, am cautiously optimistic about this course of action.

-titus