I didn't get to watch the speech live but watched an hour or so of the post-speech reaction on CNN, MSNBC and kept track of some things on TPM. Then this morning I replayed the speech in whole to see it for myself.
Initial reaction is I think it's a mistake to send more troops to Afghanistan. Initially, too, I thought it was a great idea to invade Iraq so maybe I'll be just as wrong on this. I just don't see what we can accomplish in Afghanistan. Our very presence breeds terrorist networks like al Qeada and asking our military to sacrifice even more than it already has is intolerant.
Best part of the speech:
“I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of the violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.”
True enough. Our attention was turned to Iraq to fulfill some tough guy love of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld to take out Saddam. It was a grave mistake we are paying for now. It is the very reason, if not the only reason, that we find ourselves today escalating an 8 year war in a country that has known nothing but war. But what's the noble cause? What can we possibly accomplish?
Best Democratic reaction:
Sen. Russ Feingold: "I do not support the president’s decision to send additional troops to fight a war in Afghanistan that is no longer in our national security interest. It’s an expensive gamble to undertake armed nation-building on behalf of a corrupt government of questionable legitimacy. Sending more troops could further destabilize Afghanistan and, more importantly, Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state where al Qaeda is headquartered."
A statement like this could never have been made in 2002-03, especially by a member of the then president's party. It's nice to see and be part of a political party that allows dissent; that encourages the open flow of ideas both publicly and in private. I think we are going to see more Democrats follow Feingold and let it be known they cannot faithfully support more war. As much as I like Obama, I like the open forum of being allowed to disagree with him more.
