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Bloggers React to Obama’s Afghan Troop Surge

Everyone seems to have an opinion about President Barack Obama’s decision to up the ante in Afghanistan. While The New York Times and The Atlantic Wire covered milbloggers initial reactions, we gave it a week to settle in. And, well, debates are still going strong (especially in the comments section!). Here’s what some folks are saying.

Over at Abu Muqawama, Obama’s speech wasn’t as questionable as his reference to Eisenhower. “I do not know if President Eisenhower would have agreed with the current president’s direction on Afghanistan, but I think he would have certainly recognized the considerations behind his decision-making process,” writes Abu Muqawama.

The Dude, a contributor at Bouhammer.com, wrote an open letter to President Obama on Bouhammer.com. His letter starts out with: “Now that I’ve had a few days to ingest, digest, and perform my own mission analysis on your new plan for Afghanistan, I’m a bit concerned.” He writes that his concerns come from his perspective of fighting in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. His biggest argument: What took you so long to decide to do this?

Commenter Alikat on SpouseBuzz brought up another interesting point: If we do set a timeline, won’t the enemy be gearing up for a full-force effort after that point?

“In setting a prospective timeline for withdrawal the ‘enemy’ is also aware of when our troops will be pulling out,” writes Alikat. “I’m plagued by self-imposed questions of ‘How will this affect us all when the time for withdrawal does arrive?’ and ‘What if the withdrawal isn’t successful, for one reason or another?’

Another commenter, Elton, at Small Wars Journal thinks the U.S. has “no vital interest in Afghanistan.” He believes that the U.S. troops in Afghanistan will only delay the inevitable. “The fight between the Taliban and the Afghan gov’t will happen without our presence,” he writes.

Want to rehash the speech yourself? Watch it below. Or read the transcript here.

(Image via Wikimedia Commons)