President Obama on Strategy for Afghanistan, March 2009

[The Straight Story]

As President, my greatest responsibility is to protect the American people. We are not in Afghanistan to control that country or to dictate its future. We are in Afghanistan to confront a common enemy that threatens the United States, our friends and our allies, and the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan who have suffered the most at the hands of violent extremists.

So I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That's the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: We will defeat you.

To achieve our goals, we need a stronger, smarter and comprehensive strategy. To focus on the greatest threat to our people, America must no longer deny resources to Afghanistan because of the war in Iraq. To enhance the military, governance and economic capacity of Afghanistan and Pakistan, we have to marshal international support. And to defeat an enemy that heeds no borders or laws of war, we must recognize the fundamental connection between the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan -- which is why I've appointed Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who is here, to serve as Special Representative for both countries, and to work closely with General Petraeus to integrate our civilian and military efforts.

...................

I've already ordered the deployment of 17,000 troops that had been requested by General McKiernan for many months. These soldiers and Marines will take the fight to the Taliban in the south and the east, and give us a greater capacity to partner with Afghan security forces and to go after insurgents along the border. This push will also help provide security in advance of the important presidential elections in Afghanistan in August.

At the same time, we will shift the emphasis of our mission to training and increasing the size of Afghan security forces, so that they can eventually take the lead in securing their country. That's how we will prepare Afghans to take responsibility for their security, and how we will ultimately be able to bring our own troops home.

.....

I remind everybody, the United States of America did not choose to fight a war in Afghanistan. Nearly 3,000 of our people were killed on September 11, 2001, for doing nothing more than going about their daily lives. Al Qaeda and its allies have since killed thousands of people in many countries. Most of the blood on their hands is the blood of Muslims, who al Qaeda has killed and maimed in far greater number than any other people. That is the future that al Qaeda is offering to the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan -- a future without hope or opportunity; a future without justice or peace.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-a-New-Strategy-for-Afghanistan-and-Pakistan/

I don't see his speech as being any different then this one (full speech at link).

[Mari333]

1. OMG sounds just like a Bush speech.

neocon propaganda. did he use the same writer?
what a load of shite.

[mike_c]

2. utter bullshit....

First, the notion that killing Afghans somehow enhances the security of the United State is ridiculous unless there are VERY unstated components to the argument-- like it paves the way for increased profits for the "defense" industries, energy sector, etc. It provides a means of advancement for career military. Whatever. But there is NO WAY IN HELL that goat herders and farmers in Afghanistan-- a damned nearly feudal society-- are any threat to the United States or even to their own neighbors.

That's the lie that every other argument is founded upon. Al-Qaeda is neither Afghan in any meaningful sense or even present in any operationally significant numbers. The Taliban is a Pashtun tribal movement with zero international interests (and has nothing to do with al-Qaeda or terrorism).

Obama, like the Bush administration, starts with a lie and then builds an edifice of justification upon the foundation of that lie-- and the nation hems and haws about the edifice while accepting the lie hook, line, and sinker.

So when Obama tells us tonight how important killing Afghans is for making Americans safe, we can either swallow the lie, or tell the emperor he's butt neddid. Because you can bet he's going to build his arguments on that lie before any other.

[bigtree]

3. the hook which he's using to sell it

. . . the same as the last administration's:

"to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future."

He forgot to mention the generations of resistance our presence and activity are generating in the country and the region.

[dgibby]

4. What about all the other countries harboring " terrorists"?

Does he actually think we can invade them all? Depressing!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. "Bring it on!" "Smoke 'em out!" All that's missing is the cowboy hat.

[jefferson_dem]

6. Heees's a WAR MONGER, dont'cha knowZ!@!!!1onezie

:crazy: