Why President Obama is on the Rght Track

After 92 days of deliberation, President Barack Obama concluded that America's best option in Afghanistan would be to deploy 30,000 American troops, beginning in 2010, to Afghanistan, and then begin to bring them home after 18 months. While in Afghanistan, U.S. troops will continue to target al Qaeda members, confront the Taliban insurgency, support efforts to rid the Afghan government of corruption, and train Afghan troops to be able to fend for themselves once we leave. It only takes about 10 minutes of deliberation to realize, he is right. The eight-year war in Afghanistan has been trying on American's emotions, patience, and bank accounts-without question, the majority of Americans would wish it to end as soon as possible. While it is extremely difficult to believe that war is the answer, after watching President Obama's address last Tuesday, it is easier to understand that sending 30,000 troops to Afghanistan is the right decision to reach that end.

Five minutes into the address, President Obama's speech was already quite impressive. He began by articulating the bare facts about the war in Afghanistan-a welcome change for many viewers. There have been too many rumors and misconceptions floating around about the wars the U.S is involved in, and his attempt at educating and connecting to his viewers was an effective one.

While for some, his five-minute catch up was repetitive; for most, it was the clarification they needed after eight years of confusion.

President Obama's idea of taking troops out of Iraq was another highlight of the speech. As he articulated, "the Iraq war drew the dominant share of our troops, our resources, our diplomacy, and our national attention," while significantly larger problems of security and terrorism existed in Afghanistan.

The problems of 9/11 did not link to Iraq, and if the United States is going to fight a war, all of its attention and resources should be focused on the most threatening situation, especially during a recession. These are two starkly different situations, and deserve completely different consideration and attention.

As for his main course of action in Afghanistan, Obama's plan seems to be sound. The scheduled exit strategy for American troops is one aspect of this plan; it adds a sense of urgency and direction, and is the most cost effective way to work in Afghanistan. Instead of an open-ended approach towards something that will eventually get done, all the while using an unlimited supply of both economic and military resources, the United States now has a definitive and goal-oriented plan. During a recession, the United States cannot afford to throw an endless amount of money at just one problem. As human beings, Americans also should not allow for the losses of thousands of lives without a goal in sight.

When considering the number of troops being deployed, not many people have the background or the qualifications to decide whether 30,000 troops are not enough or too many. What people can understand, however, is that the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, does have this authority, and that his request of a troop surge is founded on the facts of the war in Afghanistan. His rigorous schedule is complete with hours of reviewing, strategizing, briefing, and watching from helicopter the actual combat involving American soldiers. He knows the situation better than anyone else, and he deeply believes that U.S. efforts in Afghanistan need to increase in order to achieve any success.

"We can keep doing good things for the next 100 years and fail," McCrystal told David Martin of CBS's 60 Minutes. "Just because we are doing a lot of good things, it doesn't add up to success," he added.

War is never a good option, but sometimes it is the necessary one. It is difficult at first to see the need for a troop surge. Yet the United States is not able to turn back time; America has started this process of training Afghan forces and fighting the Taliban and cannot just leave without finishing it. It would be foolish to withdraw immediately, especially if the fate of American soldiers, and American lives, seem to be at risk.

In President Obama's words, "If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow.