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I don't think he is a war-monger. But, I think he has put politics too high in making this decision. I think he listened to the wrong people.
We will need to remind ourselves over the next 2-3 years, that this was a moment of choice. Escalation was not his only choice. It didn't have to be this way.
My greatest worry, other than the guaranteed increase in US and Afghan deaths that will come with this surge, is the untenable position it puts us in for the coming years. Have we already forgotten how hard it is to get out of wars? Iraq is moving towards ending, but to get there we had to mobilize the nation and elect a President willing to do it. Even then, it is taking a lot of money and a lot of time.
With the increased presence of troops, we face the prospect of increased attacks on our troops. If something should flare up in Pakistan (or if the Civil War spreads), we could be drawn into entirely new conflicts in the region. There is a very real likelihood that we will get stuck and bogged down there.
Also, I still do not understand what 'disrupt and deny al-qaeda' a place to come back to means. How will we know when that is accomplished? How will we know when all the extremists are dead? Will the last one declare that he is the last one, and when we off him come home?
The objectives pertaining to the Taliban and AQ are just as ambiguous as before. The goals on the Afghan police/army are at least defined. I expect the escalation to set us on course for many years more of war. Obama has made a bed that he will not like lying in. Come 2012, when he is wanted to withdrawal for his re-election, major attacks in the region can throw those plans into a tailspin. He has set himself up for failure, IMHO.
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