johnwaltzforcongress.com

A New Direction in Afghanistan?

I have nothing but respect for our President, and while I understand the need for 30,000 additional troops in Afghanistan, I have some reservations about the consequences that could come from such a drastic escalation.

We have to put into consideration the added burden to our troops who are already overstretched at this point, which will get worse without any proposal to increase the pace of troops leaving Iraq.

To add to the complications we face in Afghanistan, the Karzai administration and his government will need to be an essential player in this effort and step up to the plate in order to stem out corruption in order to start the process of building a more stable government.

Lastly, in order to conduct an effective counterinsurgency campaign that President Obama has laid out there has to be an equal burden placed on other government agencies such as the CIA, State Department, and US AID, which thus far has not been a part of the plan revealed.

However,  I am relieved that nearly 1/6 of the troops being deployed to Afghanistan will serve as dedicated trainers, thus preparing Afghans to take over the security of their own country when the U.S. begins troop withdrawal in three years. I applaud President Obama for announcing a time table, as this will allow for the U.S. and Afghan governments to coordinate efforts to establish a secure and sovereign Afghanistan.