I just got done listening to the President's speech on Afghanistan, and while it's true he gives a good speech, he left out some specifics that I want to know. He listed three main thrusts of our strategy there, and the second one is the most vital, I think, to actually winning the war there. It was to pursue civilian strategies to stabilize the country, to root out corruption and get the Afghan society running on all cylinders. As this is what will ultimately win the war for us (as I said in an earlier post, victory will not be achieved by out-killing the Taliban, but by out-recruiting them), I wish he had given more specifics. Who is going to do the work? Is he going to be relying on the military? Is our JAG corps going to be tasked with rooting out corruption? Or is he going to have civilians doing the work? I still think it's time for the Peace Corps to start working for peace in places that really need it, like Afghanistan, and then for the workers to be compensated like they were in the military.

    He explained his case pretty well for a surge, and for giving a timetable for getting out, and I think he's right on both points. I know that Afghanistan is not Iraq, but it is important to note that the Iraqis didn't start really taking responsibility for themselves until we set a timetable for leaving. We need a sense of urgency not just to spur us to work, but more especially to spur the Afghanis to work. I just hope the Taliban decides to sit back and wait for us to leave, so we can work unimpeded while we are there, and leave with the Afghanis competent to recognize the bad deal the Taliban are offering them.

    His third point was even less clear than the other two, but I suspect there were operational reasons for that. He talked about the need to root the Taliban and al Qaeda out of Pakistan, but he said very little about how he plans to do that. I suspect that some of the methods won't be very palatable to Americans (aid?), some to other countries in the region (military sales?), and some to the Pakistani government (cross-border pursuits?), but what do I know? I'm just a blogger.

    I hope that, if you didn't get to hear the president speak, that you will take the opportunity. He's quite a good motivational speaker, but if you can look past that, to what he is and isn't saying, there are some real gems. The main conclusion that can be drawn from the speech is that he has put a lot of effort into making the best decision he can, and hasn't ignored any of the main arguments. If he would put that kind of effort into some of the pressing domestic problems we have, he could be a really great president.