Tonight, President Barack Obama is expected to announce a reduction of five thousand troops to be brought home from Afghanistan by the end of the year, with another 30 thousand home by the end of 2012.
There will be criticism from both sides of the aisle. The far left will say its not a fast enough withdrawal of the troops, while the far right will say its too many, too fast. Fortunately, most people find themselves in a more central position. Bin Laden is dead. Al Qaeda is out of Afghanistan and hiding in Pakistan. The Taliban has shown a willingness to shape a deal. The Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is the corrupt leader of a corrupt central Government that has limited power countrywide. It is a nation of villages, each with its own history and interests. They do not want us there.
At the price tag of two billion dollars a week, given our economic issues here in the States, the case is easily made to draw down our forces and expenditures and begin to close this chapter of our military history.
We can only hope the deaths of over 1500 US soldiers and the countless injuries (both physical and mental) will not be proven to be for nothing.
Time will tell...
President Obama addresses the nation at 8:00pm eastern time...
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57489.html
http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/06/21/obama_s_afghanistan_decision_will_be_like_his_earlier_afghanistan_decisions
I think he is trying to find a middle, but you don't base war strategy on "It's time to get out" or it "is too expensive." However, since the left and the right are bitching, it is close to the right decision
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