President Obama will address the country tonight from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and explain his decision to send 30,000 more tropps to Afghanistan over the next six months. I’m looking over my past blog posts on the subject of Afghanistan and I’d like to call attention to this one in which Gilles Dorronsoro, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, presents a policy brief recommending a strategy focusing on securing transportation routes and urban centers and building up the Afghan government. From what I can tell, President Obama’s plan mirrors this approach, he intends the “surge” to take on the Taliban, certainly, but also to do those things which are necessary to make sure there is a strong Afghan security force to take over upon the eventual American withdrawal. I’ll be watching closely tonight for the specifics of how forces will be deployed and what the new strategy will be.
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