U.S. Plan in Afghanistan
In his speech Tuesday night (Dec. 1, 2009), President Obama outlined his plan for the U.S. in Afghanistan. His plan consists of sending an additional 30,000 American troops into Afghanistan, but also sets the timetable of beginning to pull out troops by mid 2011. We will be focusing our efforts on attacking Al Qaeda, and will also be attempting to regain security that has been destroyed by the Taliban. President Obama said that this first year would require $30 billion to pay for the war. Our goal is to regain security, especially in highly populated cities, and to disengage our troops as quickly as we can. Additional troops from NATO are also expected. Obama has pressured Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, with demands to combat corruption and trafficking, which fuels the Taliban, and we will have increased airstrikes and greater pressure on insurgents in Afghanistan.
I believe that it is essential that we attempt to create security in Afganistan, and this would hopefully help with security in surrounding countries, which would affect global security. I think the "short-term, high-intensity effort" is the most effective plan to accomplish our goals. If we will be fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, we will need to establish security in the regions we are fighting, specifically for the sake of civilians. We will need contributions from the Afghanistan government, which needs to be strengthened for the future, and also from the Pakistan government. I also believe that it is important to set goals, such as with the timetable. Some people criticized setting a timetable, but if we don't have a goal for the amount of time we want to be in Afghanistan, there's no telling how long we'll be there. The lives of the Afghanis is another aspect of the war that we need to consider. If we will be using airstrikes, we must be sure that they are precise, so that there are not civilian deaths (even though it may be difficult to tell the Taliban from the civilians). We, along with out allies, can also contribute resources towards education and other resources needed by the residents of Afghanistan.