Michael Moore Tears Up over Obama and Afghanistan

Seeking an early exit, Barack Obama staked his presidency on a massive escalation of the war in Afghanistan, ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops into a bloody counterinsurgency with the promise to start bringing them home in July of 2011.

The huge and rapid reinforcement, coupled with up to 10,000 additional troops from European allies, will put more than 150,000 foreign troops into Afghanistan by next summer - more than the Soviets deployed at the peak of their decade-long failed effort to subjugate the remote and rugged Central Asian country.

Facing a war-weary nation in a nationally televised address, Mr. Obama said he decided to escalate the war only because he believes the security of the Western world hangs in the balance.

"If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow," the President told a reserved crowd of military cadets last night at West Point, the army's elite university for officers.

Instead, Mr. Obama will more than triple - to 98,000 - the number of U.S. troops, compared with the 32,000 in Afghanistan when he took office less than a year ago.

Mr. Obama said the Taliban insurgency has rapidly gained control over huge sections of Afghanistan. "Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years it has moved backwards," he said in the uncharacteristically low-key speech, which was broadcast live nationally.

While the President said he wants to bring American troops home - within three years, or just before he faces voters in 2012 for a second term in the White House - the speech was also notable for the narrowness of the objectives he set.

There was no mention of nation-building, of education for girls, of making sure Afghanistan remains a democracy, or of the elimination of the cultivation of opium, which forms the basis of the poverty-stricken, war-ravaged country's narco-economy.

Instead, the rapid training of sufficient Afghan soldiers and police so the Kabul regime can defend itself will be the signal to leave - roughly the same military and political exit strategy set for out for Iraq.

Mr. Obama's long-delayed decision - coming months after top commanders warned of failure unless tens of thousands of additional troops are sent into the fray - quickly drew attacks from both his political opponents and leading members of his own party.

Mr. Obama, sought to allay those fears by insisting there would be no hasty withdrawal and no fixed timetable. Attacks from the left wing of his own party were even sharper. "I fear we are getting sucked into a war with no end," said Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat. Sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan will make it 30,000 times harder "to extricate ourselves from this mess. If our fight is truly with al-Qaeda, then we're in the wrong country. They've moved to Pakistan," Mr. McGovern said.

The President acknowledged as much, vowing to "strengthen Pakistan's capacity to target those groups that threaten our countries, and have made it clear that we cannot tolerate a safe-haven for terrorists whose location is known."

The troop surge into Afghanistan echoes the controversial strategy used by former president George W. Bush to quash a nascent civil war in Iraq, and opposed by Mr. Obama.

"It is, in a way, shock therapy for Afghanistan. It is a bold approach and there is no guarantee of success," Bruce Riedel, who chaired Mr. Obama's first Afghanistan strategy review last spring, told Reuters. "Wars tend to consume presidencies, and this is now Obama's war," said Mr. Riedel, now at the Brookings Institution.

AFGHANISTAN TROOP NUMBERS: 100,000 + 30,000 MORE TO COME

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[goatman257]

Michael Moore is a dupel. Why dont you apologise to your fans for encouraging them to support Obama?

We are not all emotional children like you Michael. We do not still buy the official conspiracy theory about Muslims with boxcutters carrying out 9/11.

You are a tool of the Israelis. How can any of you take this moron seriously, people like him are the reason Obama was so successful in fooling people.

[Deityyx]

he never teared up....

[1967lathrop]

Who ever likes this prick is also a ass FUA

[1967lathrop]

Mooron is a ass

[Zakah1]

@goatman257

exactly, his "foreign hight 9/11" documentary was disinformation

search for this video:

Osama bin laden denying responsibility for 9/11

[GHcool]

Michael Moore implied that he was in favor of the unilateral Palestinian movement to get the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state, thus subverting U.S. policy of bringing about a Palestinian state through negotiating a just settlement of the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

[thismortalcoil696]

anyone that believes obama/bush are making the decisions .... delusional . americans are some of the most brainwashed people i have ever met... the cong, iraq, had nothing to do with america

[PtAltmVansanTarr]

What about all the unemployed people right now as well that have the resolve to refuse to go to war.

[petervischiofilm]

@goatman257

you're an idiot..

[Maypolitics]

@goatman257 why dont you talk about the troops! i dont give a shit about him i dont care about republicans or the democrats WHY DONT YOU TALK ABOUT THE MOTHERS AND SISTERS, BROTHERS AND FATHERS WHO GET THAT CALL SAYING THAT THEIR LOVED ONE IS DEAD!