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.

124 comments:

  1. Great place to do this.
    West Point is a treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Didn't like Bush plugging Islam, don't like Obama doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why must we always say that Islam is great?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, everyone fears the UN sanction. What a worthless body

    ReplyDelete
  5. IF they had turned over OBL, taliban would still be in power.

    ReplyDelete
  6. IF they had turned over OBL, taliban would still be in power.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Is that cadet sleeping?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Was that cadet tweeting?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Passing up an opportunity to slam the Iraq War and Bush? This isn't Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  10. bryan: Joe H here

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cadet JohnsonDecember 01, 2009

    Actually, he was probably following the liveblogging of the CW.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I would like to hear him give Bush SOME credit--by name--in Iraq.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Someone should have counted the uses of the word 'I' in this speech

    ReplyDelete
  14. This entire effort, this entire speech, is going to antagonize his base. It is a ballsy move.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Tal·i·ban (tāl'ə-bān')

    ReplyDelete
  16. Until, CW, he starts talking about drawing down in the summer of 2011.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I must really be getting old...those cadets look so young.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I've not been bothered to much by the time he took on the decision.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I don't like the "after 18 months they will begin to come home" stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh, you were opposed to the Iraq War? We had no idea

    ReplyDelete
  21. @dangerroom Dear President Obama: Less back story, more Afghanistan strategies, please.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Is that condolence letter comment necessary? Shades of the Dover photo op

    ReplyDelete
  23. Is that true that other countries have promised other troops?

    ReplyDelete
  24. is it just me but wasnt this speech given by Bush for Iraq

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm dubious about transferring responsibility to "the afghans". I don't think there is such a people.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Partners are coming forward with more troops.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I like a lot of the approach--I just don't think there's a nation state there to partner with...

    ReplyDelete
  28. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow, I didn't know Petraeus was going to be there.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I don't think talking to the Afghan people is the right direction here...

    ReplyDelete
  31. 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."

    ReplyDelete
  32. Are Afghanis gathered around their TVs tonight watching this?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Full Transcript:
    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/full-transcript-president-obamas-speech-afghanistan-delivered-west/story?id=9220661

    ReplyDelete
  34. "those days are over". We all know what "those days" are....

    ReplyDelete
  35. I like that he's not fixating on "COIN" or "Counter-terror".

    ReplyDelete
  36. Smart move to talk Vietnam. That'll appeal to the average joe who doesn't follow this closely.

    ReplyDelete
  37. You don't think that's a good idea to bring that up, CW?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Debunking liberal arguments to an audience of cadets seems to be preaching to the choir.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Reasonable cost...follow the money...

    ReplyDelete
  40. The fierce urgency of now...

    ReplyDelete
  41. 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."

    ReplyDelete
  42. ....the real fight here is going to be the funding fight in Congress...his base will be heard. They will howl.

    ReplyDelete
  43. So lower the corporate income tax rate!

    ReplyDelete
  44. "Let me be clear". Have you been opaque? On purpose?

    ReplyDelete
  45. uhhhh i don't buy his nuke argument.

    ReplyDelete
  46. @dangerroom

    So Obama says no to A'stan nation-building. Fair enough. But can you do real population-centered counterinsurgency without it?

    ReplyDelete
  47. I don't see this as a counterinsurgency fight....the established govt is a farce.

    ReplyDelete
  48. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Luke Warm!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Will he address the threat of 2012 though? REPENT!

    ReplyDelete
  51. i think he was expecting jubilation from the cadets and is getting a very stiff faced audience

    ReplyDelete
  52. Oddly defensive. Wait-ACORN? Walked away from the TV for a sec-what did I miss?

    ReplyDelete
  53. The President is going to have to look to Republicans to carry water on this. His base will savage him.

    ReplyDelete
  54. i think the professionally low key and polite attitude is the reason for his low key approach

    ReplyDelete
  55. His esses remind me of Cobra Commander.

    ReplyDelete
  56. It is a pretty formal setting; probably tones things down across the board.

    ReplyDelete
  57. of the cadets....

    ReplyDelete
  58. 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...

    ReplyDelete
  59. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  60. 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

    ReplyDelete
  61. 3. The President will have to sweet-talk Republicans....they will be the margin for him on this.

    ReplyDelete
  62. 4. It was not an inspiring speech. But then again--I think this part of his job is his least favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  63. 5. Definitely light on any real "strategy". but then again, it would have been lost on much of the audience anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  64. I think Republicans have his back on this.

    ReplyDelete
  65. 6. I despise how he won't 1) stop blaming Bush and 2) won't give him any credit where credit is due.

    ReplyDelete
  66. I've got his back on this Sally. I think you're right.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Rachel Maddow thinks he's neutralized any opposition on the right (sending more troops) and the left (set a timeline).

    ReplyDelete
  68. Steven Hayes called it "the worst speech possible in support of the correct policy goal."

    ReplyDelete
  69. There wasn't any opposition (really, except george will) on the right. And Maddow's smoking crack if she thinks this neutralizes the left.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Richard DavisDecember 01, 2009

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  71. RT--your eyes must be burning watching MSNBC

    ReplyDelete
  72. Uh oh--now O'Reilly's on the air. I may have to switch to maddow....

    ReplyDelete
  73. Stephen Hayes is SO dreamy.

    ReplyDelete
  74. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Who's the dude on CNN with his shirt untucked.

    ReplyDelete
  76. I'm watching Rove on O'Reilly. Who's on CNN? Paul Begala?

    ReplyDelete
  77. Nic Robertson keying on lack of specificity.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Hearing tomorrow with SECDEF, SECSTATE, and CJCS at 9:00 on.....cspan! More detail there for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  79. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  80. http://www.defense.gov/afghanpolicy/afghanpolicy.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  81. Hearings all week--McChrystal's coming back to testify....

    ReplyDelete
  82. What kind of response do they think they'll get from troops watching? It's not like showing troops during a Super Bowl.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Dan--USNA's got a lot of Iraq/Afghan vets (USMC enlisted now going to college). Doesn't the army have a similar program?

    ReplyDelete
  84. Barbara Starr hits it right. Will take 18 months just to get 30,000 there.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Sure...but not enough to warrant him saying, "Many of you..."

    ReplyDelete
  86. TPFDD?!! We don't need no stinking TPFDD!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  87. Christiane Amanpour has an awesome voice....

    ReplyDelete
  88. Why doesn't anyone ever talk about just how exactly 30,000 troops get there and how quickly?

    ReplyDelete
  89. I do love a brit-flavored accent.

    ReplyDelete
  90. TPFDD is right. "

    "Gonna need a bigger boat."

    ReplyDelete
  91. 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

    ReplyDelete
  92. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  93. I like the fact that the Live-feed shows me from Doha...

    Adds a bit of international cred to your Blog, CW.

    ReplyDelete
  94. wonder how many contractors this is going to take?

    ReplyDelete
  95. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Umm the COIN modules won't fit in their slots.

    ReplyDelete
  97. The cadets wanted amnesty. He should have given that up front and gotten them on his side.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Thanks CW.

    Off to start Wednesday...

    ReplyDelete