Obama Pressed for More Troops

In a secret report that was leaked to the post the report is pretty stark and requests more troops. Obama needs to make choice and voting present on the issue will not do. On the one hand Afghanistan is the good war, as spouted ad nauseum by Democrats for years now. Its becoming clear extra troops are needed to relieve the pressure and and create the conditions for at least a semi stable state where Al Qaeda cannot find a refuge. On the other hand the left, now that the elections are over, no longer needs to support the war as a way to appear tough on foreign policy. During the Sunday talk fest Obama expressed skepticism over sending in more troops but refused to establish a deadline for leaving, in other words status quo. The problem is that the commanders on the ground are requesting extra support:

WASHINGTON — The top military commander in Afghanistan warns in a confidential assessment of the war there that he needs additional troops within the next year or else the conflict “will likely result in failure.”

The grim assessment is contained in a 66-page report that the commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, submitted to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Aug. 30, and which is now under review by President Obama and his top national security advisers.

The disclosure of details in the assessment, reported Sunday night by The Washington Post, coincided with new skepticism expressed by President Obama about sending any more troops into Afghanistan until he was certain that the strategy was clear.

His remarks came as opposition to the eight-year-old war within his own party is growing.General McChrystal’s view offered a stark contrast, and the language he used was striking.“Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible,” General McChrystal writes.

The president , who is desperate over health care and needs the left to pass the "reform", cannot alienate his base over a war they don't support. It testifies to the argument that Obama has tried too much too quick and is now running out of domestic capital to accomplish his goals, to the detriment of US policy over seas. Of course as Commander and Chief Obama could simply order the troops in despite fierce resistance from his base such as Bush did with the surge. Don't hold your breath on that one.