Friday, November 27, 2009

Afghanistan: Pay for it or charge it?............

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- War is expensive, and it's about to get more so if the U.S. government escalates its military efforts in Afghanistan. President Obama is set to announce his strategy next week. And the question of cost hovers in the background of the difficult decision he faces. Over the past eight years, the nearly $1 trillion cost of the military's efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan was essentially charged to the national credit card.....Will it be different this time?...Link

A must sell..........................

In his speech to the nation on Tuesday, President Barack Obama must convince supporters who thought they’d voted for an anti-war president to back a plan expected to roughly double the number of troops in Afghanistan from when he took office. Obama’s rise as a national political figure was fueled by his early opposition to the war in Iraq, which distinguished him from primary foes who’d initially backed the invasion, which quickly won him the support of millions who had grown weary of that conflict. While he repeatedly talked on the campaign trail about directing more resources to the fight in Afghanistan, many of his supporters took that rhetoric primarily as a critique of President George W. Bush’s military priorities...Link

U.S. Will Be Out Of Afghanistan By?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort. After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war...Link