Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Live Blog The President's Afghanistan Speech
The President will lay out his plans for the war in Afghanistan tonight at 8PM Eastern time in a speech from West Point. Please join me in the comments section of this post to live blog the speech.
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124 comments:
7:55--CW is onlline
Watching on Fox News--natch
Great place to do this.
West Point is a treasure.
Didn't like Bush plugging Islam, don't like Obama doing it.
Why must we always say that Islam is great?
Good overview.
Yes, everyone fears the UN sanction. What a worthless body
IF they had turned over OBL, taliban would still be in power.
IF they had turned over OBL, taliban would still be in power.
Is that cadet sleeping?
Was that cadet tweeting?
Uh oh---"Bush's fault"
Passing up an opportunity to slam the Iraq War and Bush? This isn't Obama.
bryan: Joe H here
Actually, he was probably following the liveblogging of the CW.
I would like to hear him give Bush SOME credit--by name--in Iraq.
Someone should have counted the uses of the word 'I' in this speech
This entire effort, this entire speech, is going to antagonize his base. It is a ballsy move.
Tal·i·ban (tāl'ə-bān')
Hey joe
Until, CW, he starts talking about drawing down in the summer of 2011.
I must really be getting old...those cadets look so young.
I've not been bothered to much by the time he took on the decision.
I don't like the "after 18 months they will begin to come home" stuff.
Oh, you were opposed to the Iraq War? We had no idea
Bullshit. Early 80s was worse.
@dangerroom Dear President Obama: Less back story, more Afghanistan strategies, please.
Is that condolence letter comment necessary? Shades of the Dover photo op
Perhaps some strategy now?
....18 months....
Is that true that other countries have promised other troops?
is it just me but wasnt this speech given by Bush for Iraq
I'm dubious about transferring responsibility to "the afghans". I don't think there is such a people.
Partners are coming forward with more troops.
I like a lot of the approach--I just don't think there's a nation state there to partner with...
Read this today. Wonder if the number is THIS low...
The ANA is authorised to reach 134,000 personnel by Oct 2010. This month the ANA’s actual strength was approximately 94,000. But only 3-4,000 of these are in Helmand. And with seventy percent incapable of conducting independent operations, only about 1,200 are able to fight the Taliban.
Wow, I didn't know Petraeus was going to be there.
I don't think talking to the Afghan people is the right direction here...
Criticism of Civilian Surge...
Anthony Cordesman, a civilian military expert who was in Afghanistan over the summer to advise the US military, is critical of the civilian effort.
"We're not meeting this so-called civilian surge goal, and the quality of the civilians we're providing isn't meeting the need," he said recently.
The other problem, Cordesman said, is how to coordinate among an alliance of 42 countries which set down different guidelines for its forces. He also accused the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) of poor management.
In a paper published November 19, Cordesman spoke of "the near chaos in managing the overall foreign aid effort within the State Department -- an issue that Secretary (Hillary) Clinton has raised but so far done nothing to address."
Pakistan's been cracking down....
Are Afghanis gathered around their TVs tonight watching this?
Full Transcript:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/full-transcript-president-obamas-speech-afghanistan-delivered-west/story?id=9220661
"those days are over". We all know what "those days" are....
I like that he's not fixating on "COIN" or "Counter-terror".
Whoa--he used the V word....
Smart move to talk Vietnam. That'll appeal to the average joe who doesn't follow this closely.
You don't think that's a good idea to bring that up, CW?
I do--just didn't expect it.
Debunking liberal arguments to an audience of cadets seems to be preaching to the choir.
Reasonable cost...follow the money...
The fierce urgency of now...
I think his belief that we can train the ASF to take responsibility is more hope than reality. Isn't this setting a goal beyond our "means?" Like Rory Stewart says, "ought implies can and we must not do what we cannot."
....the real fight here is going to be the funding fight in Congress...his base will be heard. They will howl.
Prosperity = power. GOOD!
So lower the corporate income tax rate!
"Let me be clear". Have you been opaque? On purpose?
Dude was so sleeping.
uhhhh i don't buy his nuke argument.
Close gtmo--when? :)
@dangerroom
So Obama says no to A'stan nation-building. Fair enough. But can you do real population-centered counterinsurgency without it?
I don't see this as a counterinsurgency fight....the established govt is a farce.
Is it me or does he just not seem that into this speech? I've seen better speeches by him, even felt motivated by them dare I say.
I agree RT.
Luke Warm!
ACORN!
Will he address the threat of 2012 though? REPENT!
i think he was expecting jubilation from the cadets and is getting a very stiff faced audience
Oddly defensive. Wait-ACORN? Walked away from the TV for a sec-what did I miss?
The President is going to have to look to Republicans to carry water on this. His base will savage him.
Talked about communities...
i think the professionally low key and polite attitude is the reason for his low key approach
Just woke up.
His esses remind me of Cobra Commander.
It is a pretty formal setting; probably tones things down across the board.
Cadets want amnesty
of the cadets....
Initial reactions?
1. I support his move to commit more troops. I support his desire to deny safe-haven to AQ and undercut Taliban.
2. I find it a strain to think that the Afghan gov't is a real partner. We need a Joe Biden "partition" plan here...
i normally enjoy his speeches, I don't usually agree with him but I have enjoyed how he articulates a point. Now i find myself counting the number of "I" and "MY" and "previous years" as well as Taleebahn statements. This was probably the worst speech I've seen to date. Wrong environment for him, not his base at all. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 4. Turn it over to the pundits now
3. The President will have to sweet-talk Republicans....they will be the margin for him on this.
4. It was not an inspiring speech. But then again--I think this part of his job is his least favorite.
5. Definitely light on any real "strategy". but then again, it would have been lost on much of the audience anyway.
I think Republicans have his back on this.
6. I despise how he won't 1) stop blaming Bush and 2) won't give him any credit where credit is due.
I've got his back on this Sally. I think you're right.
Rachel Maddow thinks he's neutralized any opposition on the right (sending more troops) and the left (set a timeline).
Steven Hayes called it "the worst speech possible in support of the correct policy goal."
There wasn't any opposition (really, except george will) on the right. And Maddow's smoking crack if she thinks this neutralizes the left.
Who does this man think that he is to say, " The Nation I plan to build...." This United States of America was "built" well before he was taken to Hawaii and we as Americans do not need for our great nation to be built in this person's image of what he believe it should be.
RT--your eyes must be burning watching MSNBC
Uh oh--now O'Reilly's on the air. I may have to switch to maddow....
Stephen Hayes is SO dreamy.
Switched to CNN
What about the porous border? What happens if we start kicking their asses and they roll right across the border? What then?
How about the ISI purportedly helping spirit Omar down to Karachi away from the drones? Not that I expected him to address any of that here, but I just don't think sending troops to increase training that has a high likelihood of not sticking is going to help in these areas. Maybe we are doing stuff to address those areas, but Zadari being on his last leg probably doesn't help matters.
Who's the dude on CNN with his shirt untucked.
I'm watching Rove on O'Reilly. Who's on CNN? Paul Begala?
Campbell Brown. Nice...
Nic Robertson keying on lack of specificity.
Hearing tomorrow with SECDEF, SECSTATE, and CJCS at 9:00 on.....cspan! More detail there for sure.
How many Cadets do you think served in A'stan? They looked puzzled when he made that comment, though I know he was talking about the audience at large.
http://www.defense.gov/afghanpolicy/afghanpolicy.aspx
Hearings all week--McChrystal's coming back to testify....
What kind of response do they think they'll get from troops watching? It's not like showing troops during a Super Bowl.
Dan--USNA's got a lot of Iraq/Afghan vets (USMC enlisted now going to college). Doesn't the army have a similar program?
Barbara Starr hits it right. Will take 18 months just to get 30,000 there.
Sure...but not enough to warrant him saying, "Many of you..."
It was a stretch.
TPFDD?!! We don't need no stinking TPFDD!!!!
Christiane Amanpour has an awesome voice....
Why doesn't anyone ever talk about just how exactly 30,000 troops get there and how quickly?
I do love a brit-flavored accent.
SEALIFT!!!!!
TPFDD is right. "
"Gonna need a bigger boat."
High-speed Ferries!
How web 2.0 social media of them:
@DefenseGov
NEW DOD #Afghanistan policy site Tweet your thoughts to @DoDPublicFeed www.defense.gov/afghanpolicy/afghanpolicy.aspx
LCS!
Maybe this serious speech should have been from a more solitary venue. The working the crowd at the end of the speech seemed to not fit with the solemnity of the event.
I like the fact that the Live-feed shows me from Doha...
Adds a bit of international cred to your Blog, CW.
wonder how many contractors this is going to take?
Ok all, thanks for joining in. Just like old times! I'm gonna write a little summary and then head off to sleep. Take care all--especially you, Colonel Dan.
Umm the COIN modules won't fit in their slots.
The cadets wanted amnesty. He should have given that up front and gotten them on his side.
Thanks CW.
Off to start Wednesday...
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