December 1st, 2009 by Jason

Time reports that the first of 30,000 additional troops will arrive in Afghanistan sometime before Christmas. Meanwhile, everyone is anticipating President Obama’s speech tonight that will delineate the new Afghan strategy and establish a rough timetable for withdrawal.

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Cali.) has released a statement praising Obama’s new strategy that will “work around” Afghan corruption, but calls the troop increase a “mistake.” Chris Good at The Atlantic provides a list of political candidates against the Afghan strategy. In a similar vein, Matt Steinglass (h/t Daily Dish) questions whether the cost of a troop increase is worth the minimal benefit and low probability of creating a “stable, self-sufficient, non-Taliban government.”

Michael Crowley contends that Americans have grown weary of promoting western values and therefore President Obama will couch his strategy primarily in national security terms. But Michael Allen sees the speech as an opportunity for President Obama to “respond to criticism that the administration is overly realist in its foreign policy.”

While President Obama has tripled the number of soldiers in Afghanistan since his inauguration, Juan Cole wonders whether the U.S. has an even minimally-effective partner in Kabul given the Karzai government’s inability to form a cabinet, failure to implement even half of their funded programs, and insufficient spending of available funds.

Ahmed Rashid offers a point by point comparison between Obama’s likely strategy and a recent press release by Taliban leader Mullah Omar.  Writing in Slate, Fred Kaplan explores the pros and cons of several Afghan strategies, revealing his ultimate ambivalence towards every option. But he warns, “a columnist can be ambivalent; a president can’t be.”

Finally, Laura Rozen reports that national security advisor Jim Jones will give a members-only briefing on Afghanistan this Thursday on the Hill.

Posted in Afghanistan, Congress, Democracy Promotion, Freedom, Military, Taliban, US foreign policy, US politics, al-Qaeda |