<p>I was surprised that this hasn’t been discussed more today. On Meet the Press yesterday he clearly indicated he will shift resources to Afghanistan. See the transcript below:</p>
<p>"MR. RUSSERT: Afghanistan. The situation, according to some, is deteriorating as the Taliban continues to reconstitute itself. Would you, as president, be willing to have a military surge in Afghanistan in order to, once and for all, eliminate the Taliban?</p>
<p>SEN. OBAMA: Yes. I think that’s what we need. I think we need more troops there, I think we need to do a better job of reconstruction there. I think we have to be focused on Afghanistan. It is one of the reasons that I was opposed to the war in Iraq in the first place. We now know that al-Qaeda is stronger than any time since 2001. We’ve just received additional intelligence reports from our agencies, showing that they are growing in capability. That is something that we’ve got to address.</p>
<p>And we’re also going to have to address the situation in Pakistan, where we now have, in the federated areas, al-Qaeda and the Taliban setting up bases there. We now have a new government in Pakistan. We have an opportunity to initiate a new relationship. We’ve got to send a signal to them that we are interested in national security, but we also recognize they’re interested in figuring out how do they feed their people and how do they prosper economically? And instead of just focusing on our issues, we’ve got to focus on some of theirs, so that we can get better cooperation to hunt down al-Qaeda and make sure that that does not become a safe haven for them."</p>
<p>Colin Powell has warned that Afghanistan may be more difficult than Iraq. Are we prepared for that in terms of more lives and money? See his comments below:</p>
<p>Bailey I saw this interview with Sen Obama but I do not recall him saying he wanted to send a ‘surge’ of troops into Afghanistan (or anywhere else). Can you send the quote from him on the ‘surge’ please?</p>
<p>This is from the transcript as well. Obama is proposing to do what that guy called “our president” should have done in the first place. </p>
<p>“Iran has been the biggest strategic beneficiary of our invasion of Iraq, they are stronger because of our decision to go in; and what we have to do is figure out how are we going to recalibrate our strategic position in the region. I think that starts with pulling our combat troops out of Iraq. We have placed them in harm’s way, we have fanned the flames of anti-American sentiment, we are distracted from what’s the real battle front that we need to focus on, which is Afghanistan and, and rooting out al-Qaeda. And if we put forward a plan where we are not going to be a permanent occupier in Iraq and we force the Iraqis to stand up and negotiate and come to a compromise that includes, by the way, a regional discussion with Iran, with Syria, as well as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and other regional powers, then I think we are going to be in a better posture to deal with the long-term threat of Iran and particularly its development of nuclear weapons. That’s something that this administration has failed to do.”</p>
<p>Not so sure about that. Remember what happened to the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Anyway what matters now is how much are we prepared to sacrifice in Afghanistan. With a 16 month withdrawal starting in 2009 and a possible long engagement in Afghanistan I don’t see us reducing our military spending anytime soon. And Pakistan is an even more dangerous issue. Are most Democrats OK with another major military involvement?</p>
<p>I supported the Bush Iraq surge and I support the Obama Afghan surge. If you are going to use military force you should use the appropriate amount of military force. </p>
<p>OK, but when it’s 2013 and we are in the same situation as Iraq (or worse) don’t be crying that we need to get out. I’m OK with Obama’s strategy but surprised that everyone else is accepting it so well. But I’m sure that if he’s elected and we get embroiled in a sticky situation in Afghanistan the same people will be calling for his head. Just remember that you are all OK with this now, no second guessing later!</p>
<p>I was crying that we shouldn’t go into Iraq. We should not have left Afghanistan until the job was done. Obama will be embroiled in sticky situations because the mess Mr. Bush made will take years, maybe decades to clean up.</p>