Mr. President, Our Troops Are Dying!
by James Glaser
October 21, 2009

President Obama is trying to decide if we should send more troops to Afghanistan. The General in the field has requested more troops, as has the Pentagon. Still the President hesitates.

AFP reports it this way:

President Barack Obama has not yet determined whether he will make a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the November 7 election runoff, a US official said Tuesday.

"The UN, NATO, the US stand ready to assist the Afghans in conducting the second round," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"Whether or not the president makes a decision before that I don't think has been determined.

"I have continued to say a decision will be made in the coming weeks as the president goes through an examination of our policy," he added.

Here is the hang up. Afghanistan had an election that was so full of corruption that a new election has to take place. Obama doesn't know if we should back the existing government with more troops or hang on with the troops we have.

Reuter's Phil Stewart put it this way:

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) — The United States cannot wait for problems surrounding the legitimacy of the Afghan government to be resolved before making a decision on troops, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said.

So far in 2009, 251 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan. So, waiting to decide our policy there is not an option. I say pull the troops now, but if Obama thinks they should stay... at least support them. Give the General in charge what he wants. If the President can't do that, then he should have the decency to bring our troops home.

Any other course of action is costing fine young Americans their lives for a failed policy.

Free JavaScripts provided
by The JavaScript Source