Barrel Strength

93-days after Gen. McChrystal requested 40,000 additional troops, Obama has finally made a decision.  For comparison, Kabul fell on Nov 14th, 2001, 65-days after 9/11 and the intervening period, especially the pause before attack on Mazar-e-sharif, was widely described as a quagmire in leftist and mainstream press.

By sending additional 30,000 troops and then promising to start withdrawing them in July 2011, Obama will accomplish precisely what he has accomplished before in his political career – nothing.  Troops are not enough to be effective and a withdrawal date provides Taliban with a date to use in strategic planning of their campaign.  Completely missing from his speech was the word “victory” which encapsulates his entire thought process.  Of course it is entirely possible that Obama will change his plans, as he has done before, but for now it seems he has safely punted the ball after the mid-term elections, due next year.