Obama's Fateful Decision

Obama was faced with the extremely difficult decision as to which strategy we should take in our fight in Afghanistan. Not only was it an important decision that will affect that region for years to come, it is also a political land mine. With such opposing viewpoints on the matter, no matter which path is chosen, people are bound to be upset about it. You touch the issue, you blow up.
The media frenzy has already begun. People commending and condemning the choice that Obama made by deciding to send 30,000 additional troops over the next 6 months. Here is an excerpt from his speech:

"The review is now complete, and 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. Taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011. Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the grounds.
We'll continue to advise and assist Afghanistan's security forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul, but it will be clear to the Afghan government, and more importantly, to the Afghan people that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country."

In my opinion, Obama made a good decision in deciding not to pull out of the war in Afghanistan. We've already invested too much time, too much money, too many resources, and too many soldiers to abandon the cause now. I also think that it's too fragile of a situation in the region to back out at this point. The Taliban is growing in strength and numbers, and the Afghan government is fairly weak. It may not be able to stand up against heavy insurgent pressure. Additionally, the Taliban may become able to carry out their goal of capturing the government of Pakistan without any pressure from the United States military. Also, higher troop levels are required to protect the people of Afghanistan against Taliban offensives. Aside from the strategic reasons, pulling out of Afghanistan would send a pretty bad signal to the world about the United States' ability to follow through on a promise. That, perhaps, isn't as large of an issue, but America isn't currently the most popular on the world stage and this would certainly not help us any. Obviously, Obama couldn't send a more substantial number of troops because of the financial aspect, and the political pressure. Also, he was smart to differentiate himself and his strategy from the unpopular strategy implemented in Iraq by setting a timetable to bring the troops home. This sends the message that the job will be done quickly and it does will not test the patience on the part of the American people. For these reasons, I think it was a fairly smart political move, and it did not strategically undermine our hopes in the region. Of course, there is no guarantee that the troop increase will actually result in victory....