Previewing Obama's Speech

By reading this article from the NY Times, I just recently found out that in addition to the 30,000 troops that Obama plans to deploy to Afghanistan, he also plans on removing troops starting in July 2011. American soldiers have not been taken out of Afghanistan since about 10 years ago when we first invaded. This newfound timetable accelerates things much faster than previously planned.

The article contains a paragraph that describes Senator John McCain's (Obama's opposing presidential candidate) opinion on the troop surge. McCain agrees with Obama's plan to increase the amount of soldiers in Afghanistan, however he argued against setting a time table.

He stated, "Dates for withdrawal are dictated by conditions. The way that you win wars is to break the enemy's will, not to announce dates that you are leaving."

I find that this perfectly addresses what we discussed today in class. Obama will be informing the American public about the schedule for US involvement in Afghanistan, but McCain believes this information should be kept secret. This suggests that in this circumstance, a military strategy should not be revealed.

My take is that the public does indeed have the right to know. The troops in Afghanistan are American people, whose lives matter to thousands of families across the country. Obama owes it to families whose sons or daughters are putting their lives on the line to know when withdrawl is expected. I see McCain's point, however he should certainly understand this as well considering he was in the Navy for 22 years.

What do you think? Is it important that the American people know what to expect in Afghanistan in these next few years? What would happen if we did not find out?