With all the news coverage centered around the president’s address to the nation and how the government will respond to the ongoing disaster in the Gulf, one news story has relegated to second tier status; the war in Afghanistan. Gen. David Petraeus, the Commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East spoke before the Senate Armed Service Committee to reassure senators on the progress of the war in Afghanistan.
Congress is growing increasingly concerned and starting to waver over increase in casualties the past few weeks now that all of the surge forces are in place. The military leadership have let it be known from the beginning that casualties will spike before they begin to go down. We witnessed the same thing during the Iraq surge. Congress and the military establishment have different time schedules. One has its eye on the situation in Afghanistan, the other has its eye on the mid-term election.
The question for both Congress and the military is the looming date of July 2011, when President Obama stated in his address to the nation at West Point Military Academy that we would begin transferring authority to Afghan forces and begin our withdrawal. That one announcement has hampered efforts in Afghanistan to build trust in our Afghan partners that we would not abandon them like we did after the Russian withdrawal.
Will we do the same thing that we have done so many times in the past; cut and run when the going gets tough! Only time will tell!
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