CNN

Iraq is not a success, unless you are counting bodies. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. For 3,000 American lives we have taken hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives.

Afghanistan is now the world's leading producer of poppy/heroin. Thanks to the Bush administration. The Taliban opposed poppy/heroin. Why are our permanent bases in Afghanistan along the oil pipeline? Blood for oil, that is what is happening.

I feel the majority of you either don't know the entire story, or you are incapable of understanding what is occurring.

If you speak of Bush in favorable terms you are either blind, or blinded by hatred from loss of the election.

You have to spend money to make money.

The plain and simple truth of the matter is: Bush is a war criminal. I cannot see how anyone can defend that monster.

I guess all of you who are criticizing President Obama have read the same intelligence reports and the advbice of the generals on the groundas he has.VBush and his Republican pals chose to ignore Afghanistan as it went into an unnecessary war in Iraq.

All of you would be crying if there was another 911 saying he didn't protect America by dealing with the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

With this deployment of troops to the Kandahar area the Canadian ISAF forces are getting ready with the base they will share. Now Canada has always been out numbered with the amount of US troops on the ground, but it’s a relationship that has been going on since 2001 and camp Julian in Kabul. I had the honour of being a civilian at Julian, supporting not just the Canadian Forces, but the multi national forces that were there also. The Americans in particular were always very complimentary about the Canadian base, and I am sure that the current building and upgrades to Kandahar will be very much appreciated by the Forces of Canada.

THE WAR on TERROR, aka the overseas contingency operation will be won by decades of persistence, ground intel, and hit on their strongholds and training camps.

killing terrorists often means air-raiding villages in the middle of the night. obama won't have the stomach for the criticism. he's an idealist that'll listen to the blogosphere before the generals.

in the end, he'll chose weak generals who suggest withdrawl, and then agree with them.

It's about time we got back on track and actually started looking for the perpetrators of 911. What Bush did in IRAQ was wrong. Remember, there was NO SUCH THINK AS AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ until we destabilized the country and brought hatred upon America. BUSH/CHENEY CREATED AL-QAEDA in IRAQ.

Go Obama....we'll probably smoke out Bin Laden a few months after we get back on task in Afghanistan now.

I thought we were going to bring the troops home.

I would like to see more of a commitment (Actions not words) from Pakistan before we give them any more money.

It's time to get the job done in Afghanistan..you know, the war Bush started then disregarded so he could start a war in Iraq...a war in Iraq based on lies.
Anyway, so glad Obama is now in charge of the war machine – now we'll get 'er done.

During the 2008 campaign he was going to hit the ground running on day one with a strategy on dealing with Afghanistan.
Now nearly 3 months later, he's just now coming up with a plan.
His brilliant plan: SEND MORE TROOPS!!!
Wow!! This guy is NOTHING LIKE BUSH, IS HE?!?!?!

Where are all the war protesters now?
Maybe they're in line at the recruiting station.

I see another "Iraq" war in Afganistan war. or is it contingency operation now?? Let's see how this plays out when the death count goes up and it turns ugly. Doesn't matter what you call it it will be another a disaster.

@ Mary Jo, who said "We have a war here also. Has Obama forgot that little thing. This is serious."

Pretending that he's only doing the one thing discussed in an article about that one thing is a really ineffective way of convincing people he's not doing a good job.

I think the people who are complaining about Obama sending troops to Afghanistan know that Al Qaeda came from there, not Iraq. It is not as if they had not been told again and again that the people who attacked us on 9/11 came from Afghanistan, not Iraq. They must know. But getting them to admit that Iraq war was a mistake and that the Iraqi people we liberated from Saddam want us out by 2011 (in other words, the Iraqis want to be liberated from us) is too much. You got to feel for the Republicans. They just lost to a guy who had next to no experience, and they don't control any branch of government. All they have left is the power to complain. That is all they have left.

"Iraq was a success" is a little like "The sky is plaid"

Neither of them are true. Some would like it to be, but there are only one set of facts. The rest is spin.

We needed to be focused solely on Afghanistan long ago.
Republicans may have some short term memory issues, but liberals have been saying that since September 12, and a lot of our ire about Iraq leading up to March 2003 was about how we hadn't finished the job yet.

@ William...this proves Bush was right all along?????? Help me out here. Bush INVADED Iraq...they had NOTHING to do with 9-11 old spinmeister buddy. Nothing Bush did militarily after 9-11 was right...nothing!

After we squander our resources, what kind of "friend" will China be then?

Hey CNN...stop blocking my comments because I critique Obama's war. That is called censorship.

In Houston, TX March 27th, 2009 10:15 am ET

My lord you naysayers are persistent. You want the president to fail and you want to crush the hopes of your fellow citizens. You completely misrepresent his position on issues and the intent of his plan. And you call him a socialist And you don't even know what the word means. If you did, you would realize that police departments, fire departments, taxes, SOCIAL SECURITY…that's all social security
--------------------------

Obama is not a socialist. He is a facist through and through.

bunch of warmongering liberals

How about 1.5 Billion yearly to stop all the traffic coming in through the US borders. We have a war here also. Has Obama forgot that little thing. This is serious. Not just all the drug cartel creeps taking over. The illegals killing our police, raping, carjacking, murders, home invasions ( 100 this last year in Tucson and many in Phoenix) robbery and the list goes on. HELP is needed in the soverign country. Stop some of this nonsense over spending for stupid stuff. Like studing the genes of catfish. Really! those are things that can come when we are secure here. Family first, then others.....

Eric in Texas, so you're a clairvoyant, given your statement about Al Qaeda seeking refuge in Iraq if we had went to war in Afghanistan? And a very lame one. WE WENT TO WAR IN AFGHANISTAN! We overthrow the government of that country! It was a war, but Bush wanted to get even with Saddam so... he decided to not go full force against the guys that were behind 911.
Spin the facts all you want but in the end that's the truth. Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden were in Afghanistan, and he choose to fight Iraq.
OK, Hussein was everything we can think of him plus some things that we don't dare. But the guys behind 911 were in Afghanistan, and since Bush had NO justifiable reason to go after the man that once had ordered his death, he used 911 to do that. HE USED IT SHAMELESSLY. So we got Hussein out of power, great thing (no irony or sarcasm here), but do you remember how things were in Iraq until the Pentagon finally managed to get all those draft-dodgers in the White House shut-up and let them handle the situation as it should have been from the very beggining? I do.

Obama proves once again Bush was right all along.

This is one of the best decisions that President Obama has implemented. I'd hope that all Americans remember what happened on 9/11 where 3,000+ Americans died due to operations based out Afghanistan (Osama Bin Laden). Bush did not perform his job as he promised, but instead invaded another country as a random tangent with no proof of WMD. President Obama in his first term will hunt down and punish those who were responsible for these despicable acts of terror.

Great plan, it will work.

Mr. PRESIDENT -

The mission in Afghanistan must be clear, narrowly defined and winnable.

Now is the time to consult with Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Colin Powell. He led us to victory in Iraq's Dessert Storm.

Get us in ... hit them hard .... then get us out. Do that by 2012 so that Afghanistan is not an issue for Democrats during the election campaign.

Signed .... a Liberal Democrat

Evidently, talibanization of Pak. territories needs a ton of tackling with tactical weaponry, in tandem with political and economical tacts to trigger a widespread torture of just their idealogies. Anything short of that will be less likely to be lethal to those lunatics in the less well developed areas of the world.

The dik-less dictator Obama escalates the war in Afghanistan and further buries America in financial debt – promising $$ to Pakistan.

Obama is doing what Osama hoped to do ... destroy America.

Code Pink should be going crazy right now, but I have not seen them in the news????

And the Obama drones fall inline with thier comments.

I ask the Obama drones to reflect on thier attitude about Afganistan under the last president. Did they support his efforts in Afganistan? Disparge the troops there? Support Code Pink? Ask yourself why, if you can't find a good reason you changed your opinion you need to come to grips with being a mindless follower an ideologue or a statist.

Being former military myself, I've got to say that seeing the attacks on our troops by liberials and democrats which were echoed and amplified by the media will not be forgotten by the people who serve in the military.

Thank you Ed from Dallas. At last someone that knows what is going on before they criticize the President.

Obama = WARMONGER!!

"Kent in Ca"

The reason President Obama can now concentrate on Afghanistan is because Iraq is now successful, not because he made a campaign promise. And remember all those donkeys who were declaring Iraq "lost", even with the successful surge on-going? Our victory in Iraq is the "reason for the season". Give the previous administration credit for that, no?

Republican warhawks suddenly turning into fervent peace lovers, ha ha. Obviously a lot of people didn't listen to what the President said during the campaign: responsible withdrowing of all troops from Iraq and intensifying efforts to dismantle Al_Quaeda where it actually IS.
Afghanistan: war of NECCESITY
as opposed to GW's
Iraq: war of (his) CHOICE.

When a simple 'Yes" or 'No' question is asked on this topic and not a single answer is received in over 2 hours, you know that Rohm Emmanuel's talking points email this morning to all you liberal hacks didn't include it.

Pathetic.

You reap what you sow...........

So Obama is going to send an additional 4000 Troops to train the 75,000 man Afgan Army. Do we not have enough trainers there now? We need combat Troops to do the job of the military to quote Patton, "Your job is not to die for your country, your job is to make the other SOB die for his!" Oh, I forgot you left wingers would not know what it is to have to go to battle since you do not volunteer to go into the military let alone in a combat arms field.

Mr. President I'm a VERY strong supporter of yours. But we should NOT be commiting billions of dollars for some third world country. Go in, get Al-Quaida and the peeps who brought us 9/11 and get out. We need the $$$ here to help us more than we need to help them!

change?? only 3 years and 9 months to go

All of us – including Obama non-supporters like me – must rally behind the President here.

@Sniffit:

Once again you are showing your total ignorance with your comments. You said "Bush basically sent a few token troops to Afghanistan, then turned all his focused attention to Iraq and finishing his daddy's war."

The "token troops" that you refer to was a strategic decision to send special forces to work with the local tribal leaders in fighting the Taliban. That decision was an overwhelming success as tens of thousands of Taliban fighters were killed and run from the country. The regrouping and return of enemy fighters was inevitable, especially after our victory in Iraq. Thank goodness Bush persisted in securing victory in Iraq and didn't listen to defeatists such as John Murtha and Barack Obama or the number of enemy fighters would be 10 times the number there are now. Now it's up to Obama to listen to his military generals and secure victory in Afghanistan to deal our enemy the follow-up punch to Iraq.

May I ask why is our President 'following' Bush's footstep – War?? Didn't we, the American people, throw Bush OUT for this reason?? 'Hunting Down' & 'Fighting the Taliban' just sound so eeriely familiar. We have been at this War so long, WASTing our Money on Countries that hate us, Why, Why, why do we STILL CONTINUE on this path. Maybe I'm niave but, I personally feel we should DROP ALL OF THEM once and for all!! – Afganistan, Pakistan etc, BRING HOME our Troops IMMEDIATELY and give these countries NOT ONE CENT MORE!! I'm abit Dissapointed.

I have a better idea for Mid-East foreign policy: Get out of there...let the Israelis handle it, and advise all these countries who harbor terroists...keep your loony fringe under control or we nuke any country that allows its terrorists to come here and attack us.

Wow..... I never thought I would see this.... Liberal Warmongers .....

A very scarey picture developing here...... Our mighty Armies being led to battle by limp wristed Libs. Vietnam, Part II

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

Theodore Roosevelt

We have to decide as a country if we want to remain the superpower of the world. If we do, then we have to do what it takes to keep world in peace.

@ Ed in Dallas... I agree with your analysis...

So, lets support Obama on this. We elected him the leader of the free world. Let him do his work.

We'll pull out out Afghanistan when China tells us to.

Great work Mr. President. The Sane Americans are behind you 100%.
Don't listen to the Republicans or the miss informed Americans.
It takes a lot to retrain them from the Bush days. But hopefully they will get there by 2010. Keep up the good work!

Great- more money and lives wasted on a lost cause. Afghanistan/Packistan are the new Iraq. How much are we going to throw away there?

Obama is going to spend us into oblivion.

"$1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people every year over the next five years – resources that will build schools, roads, and hospitals, and strengthen Pakistan's democracy"

How is giving money to Pakistan going to help the situation in Afghanistan? Sounds more like a bribe to me. We'll give you this money if you help us with the Taliban. And is building some roads really going to strengthen Pakistan's democracy? Pakistan is becoming a country with increasing internal conflict. Do we really want to get ourselves involved in another mess?

iraq war, afghanistan war, war on terror ,and civil war [war on drugs]. we have been in a constant state of war , since vietnam. and this President thinks its funny and a joke. i should have stuck with the libertarian party. at least Bill Barr wouldn't being making 'funnies' about a war on our own country. he would have ended them all. dems and repubs are all the same, and both are responsible for the state of our affairs.

If neighbor, the former Soviet Union ( and it's military), could not achieve victory in Afghanistan in, what, seven years (remember that war) what makes one think that we can...

What ever happened to all the European support that Obama was going to get by "not going it alone" and having better relations with our "allies". Other then Britain which may send an additional 2,000 troops to Afghanistan, no other European ally has offered to provide more troops, No European Country has offered any additional sustantial financial aid to Pakistan or Afghanistan. Dispite this Obama new era of international cooperation, the U.S. still provides the vast majority of troops and money. No to mention that Afghanistan is a United Nations operation and the UN has also been useless in getting additional troops or money. Dispite all the hype and "change" the U.S. for the most part is still "going it alone" and Obama is still following the same "battle" plan that the Bush administration followed. Of course if Bush wanted to send more troops into Afghanistan he would have been beat up by the ant-war groups, media and the liberal democrats without end. When Obama does it it is justified war and justified expense. Strange how reality changes based on who you supported for president.

Also it is impossible to buy muslim "friends" – they will gladly take your money but still hate and try to kill you as they have been taught to do since they were children. As with all radical fanatics, muslim fanatics will not go away until they are killed. You cannot talk them or buy them to death.

I hope this government knows what it's doing. I just hate to see more of our soldiers die for what seems like an endless war that is not against the people but is against ideologys. Other countries have tried this and failed miserably. I like our President and I trust him,but I have reservations about this.

part of the reason the situation in AF-PAC is so perrilous & tenuous is becaues in that part of the world the culture is not at all static, it is very dynamic. Meaning Taliban, Al-Queada, Packistan govt, Afghanistan govt have melted, inter-mingelled and intermarried into one people. Basically all four factions for the purpose of this discussion are the same. So its difficult to fight this enemy with just bullets...a multi pronged diplomatic approach is needed to secure the peace, which might be undo-able. Something Bush never respected or learned about their culture. Youd think that all the time he spent with Prince Bandahr & the Saudi royals...that hed learn more about that region of the world.

Well, here we go. Another slide into a failed war. Afghanistan has beaten better men than Obama.

STOP sending money we DON'T HAVE to countries that hate America!!

Good lord... where is THIS $7.5 Billion ($1.5 B x 5 years) going to come from?????

Best US President in my lifetime...some of you could learn something from him if you pay attention...stop shooting first and asking questions later....

How do all you non-supporters of this think the "Surge" in Iraq was successful?..........money!

The sad part is, if we would have built schools and hospitals when we funded the afghans agaist the russians, there never would have been a september 11th.......HUAH Mr. President!

before you get all upset about this "waste", let's not forget – 1.5 billion is about $5 per person and year – and, helping people is much more effective and cheaper than killing them – and, did I mention, more ethical and more Christian!

I have absolute confidence in President Obama. If he says that we need to focus on Afghanistan then I fully support him.

The people who are against any war just are not realistic about the real threats we face from the Taliban. The Republicans are sounding increasingly out of touch with reality as reflected by the nonsensical comments on this blog. Who is really left in the Republican party but the easily deluded as Republican policies have proven to just simply be bad for everyone including the wealthy.

I believe the President has a great plan and will succeed with a victory, not with bombs and blood but with oppportunity and promise. All people simply want to live, work, and enjoy life and only turn to violence when something disrupts their existence which our nation has a terrrible habit of doing without reason at times, Iraq is a perfect example of this. We must convert our war policies to be economic in nature whenever possible and use diplomacy quicker than the trigger!!! Our brave heroes now serving deserve our best efforts at finally achieving world peace!!!

Yet another Black hole, will we never learn. This country is BROKE and we need to help people HERE FIRST before saving everyone else!

Well said Pee Wee.......people are losing the ability to think for themselves...and that is the most dangerous thing of all.

@ Joshua, who said "Do you understand the history of conflict in Afghanistan?"

Yes, I do. My comment was dirrected at why Bush's actions and Obama's actions are not the same thing. What you then did was talk about something completely off-topic and irrelevant to that point by blabbering about whether history tells us it can be won. I'm well informed about it. The Russians failed with well over 100k troops on the ground (see my other posts from today)...and they did so in large part because we gave the Taliban the weapons to defeat them. I in no way stated nor implied that I think it's a completely winnable situation (frankly, I just want proof bin Laden is captured or dead), but it is a situation that cannot be ignored and if we are going to do it (which we are), we must do it in the best possible way...Bush failed miserably on that point, but Obama seems to have far better (and DIFFERENT) ideas about how to accomplish something there, even if is impossible to achieve a 100% win.

Again, another example of Obama doing what he said he would do in the campaign. Anyone complaining about this move or saying that he lied about his intentions in Afghanistan weren't paying attention during the campaign.

O.K. take a deep breath, slow down, and think clearly for a second. Here are some small facts that the bloggers should ponder while posting/reading the messages. To all the liberals; this policy is no different that what G.W. Bush was doing since the "War On Terror" began. The reason why it was barely reported and commented on by the Bush admin. was because it was a complete failure. The Pakistani government is courrupt and losing power and control by the minute. You should think twice about supporting giving them 1.5 bilion more of U.S. tax dollars. To all the conservatives; until the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan is secure the "terrorist" will continue to have a safe have to plan and operate. Now everyone ask yourself this question, " Where did Osama bin Laden get the financing for the 9/11 attacks, and why hasn't our government reported this?" Answer: from members of the Pakistani intelligence agency. Think about that for a minute.

What a mess. I know we have to do something to fix W's messes, but it is a dangerous country, just ask Russia, Great Brittan, Mongols and Alexander the Great! We have been set-up for failure by closed minded moronic policies, let's all come together and to get the frigin' lid slammed down on the al-Qaeda and get the hell out of their!

finally we have a president who is engaged in a multi faced approach to the afgan/pakistan regional problem .Their history dates back into ancient rivaly.some of the problems they have can not be solved by guns.let us trend in that territory with a birds eye view,and then get out.

I do like Obama's approach here. It's hopefully reflecting a lesson we learned several times. When all else fails and you have to fight, go in and win. Our military is the best the world has ever known so give them a clear mission and whatever they need to win. Quickly.

Iraq and Afghanistan were wars we should not be fighting when Bush was in office (Pakistan had warheads years ago and has always been a rogue nation. Just ask India how Pakistan has operated since they were divided). Now it is ok? Religion is for right wing hacks until Obama found Jesus in Chicago and started going to church.
If you look at the trend of spending it bottomed in 02’ after 9/11 and was getting smaller each year until Pelosi and crew took over the Congress in 2006. After that time the deficit exploded. Hmmmmmm, seems like it is still going out of control. Do not vote for any current member of the senate of congress, regardless of party affiliation, back in when elections come around! This is the only way “We the People” can change the course of our nation. If not, we can welcome back Chris Dodd and Barney Frank who lead us down the path of financial collapse! Bush was not in charge of writing legislation or tax code for financial institution or corporation. The Senate Finance committee and Ways and Means are, which by the way are both lead by corrupt democrats.

By the way great news from President Obama on this decision, I fully support and expect that these matters are Presidential duties. I do not support and I hope all of President Obama's economic and socialist policies FAIL!!

@ Ed from Dallas.....

I agree with you. Lets look at the reasoning behind the strategy not at what our emotions make us feel. President Obama gets briefed every day on these issues. We dont. There is a whole bunch of info he knows that we dont.

For the millitary and intelligence community to support Pres Obama and endorse his plan, they must know its what needs to be done.

Thanks Mr. President, because if there is one place where these cowardly terrorists can find safety, then there is no place that the rest of us will be at peace.

Spend the $1.5B to recruit a mercenary army to fight Taliban in Pak territory. That would be more worthwhile I guess.

Guess I'll have to ask again.

WILL we see liberal outrage when the reports of civilian casualties, as a direct result of this escalation in hostilities, begin to come in?

Discuss (but please... no "inherited" rhetoric).

Put your brains on!

If you take a second and actually read you would notice that Obama is doing what Reagan didn't understand: If you destroy a country and it's infrastructure without rebilding and facilitating the reemergence of civil society (organically...No stupid forced "democratic" elections), you will breed terrorists.

Where do you really think the Taliban came from? A frat? The same applies to the pirates in Somalia.

THINK!!!!!!

This is exactly what Obama said he would do in the 2nd debate with McCain. He said he would scale down Iraq and scale up our effort in Afghanistan. Were any of you guys listening? Do you remember? It was only five months ago.

Another campaign promise delivered.

Of course most Americans appear to have the memory span of a 24 hour news cycle. I don't know how some of you guys remember your own kids' birthdays!

It's rather sad reading this forum. The volume of misconception, misinformation and illogical processing of information that is readily available is startling. No wonder our country is going through what it is now.

According to what I see on this board, the message matters not, only the messenger and if you ally yourself with the messenger's purported political slant, all is OK. If you don't ally with the messenger's ideology, then it is all bad.

The mob mentality has replaced logic and reasoned, rational thinking.

Let the battle begin. This is the war we need to fight. Hunt Osama and his militants down into their caves and kill them. Al Queda thinks they're going to have us bogged down like when the Afghans fought the Soviet Union. Well they have another thing coming. This is not Charlie Wilson's war.

For those of you who think its your money thats being spent in other countries, then you are dead wrong. There is a big difference between TAXPAYERS money and TAX money. TAX is something paid by the common people to the government inorder for it to do its duties which is to protect the country people, by building infratructure, defense, security etc. Once you pay your taxes then it is no longer TAXPAYERS money (i mean YOUR Money), its the government's money (TAX money). The government has to make sure they invest that money for the betterment of the country people, be it bailing out banks, giving refund checks and the list goes on and on..... WE the TAXPAYERS have no say on this money, whatsoever. I don't know if this article makes sense, but if you give it a little thought you know what i am talking about.

Our only responsibility as a citizen is to elect a intelligent president who can spend the TAX money for the welfare of this country.

The reason i say this is, if you change your perspective on what TAXPAYERS money really is, it will save all your energy on posting outrage on everything the government does...

CNN please post this comment.....

New regime, same as the old one. War mongers all of them. The two party system is a scam.

Hey I though he was suppose to sit down and have tea with the Taliban and resolve all of this. Another Obama flip-flop. We need a leader, not a teleprompter robot.

This is the war we should be fighting. Thank you Mr. President for getting America focused on the people who attacked us. The people who attacked us on 9/11 are going to pay in blood. As the President said in his inauguaral address, "you will not outlast us and we will defeat you!"

if obama knows something that makes afghanistan such a threat to the world, he needs to share it with the world but especially with americans. in this economy, the costs for iraq and afghanistan are astronomical and there is no victory in sight however victory is currently being defined. could this be obama's vietnam? the insurgents, kind of like the viet cong, and volunteers fighting with the insurgents a form of the north vietamese allies of the viet cong?

the EU the whole world is laughing at us still

========

You think the world wasn't laughing at us harder when Bush was president? Yesterday I went to a lecture given by a representative of one of the EU countries. He said if the red-and-blue-states map were applied to the entire globe, it would be all blue except for the American south. Also, they're laughing because America is still backward religiously. The only countries still that fundamentally backward are us, and the Islamic states. We are also lagging in education.

He said we'd still be leading the world and are ahead of the rest in most other areas, but if we continued to indulge mindsets like those held by the Republicans, we'd be behind pretty soon. You can see this in the data that was generated in the Bush years, and you can also see it in history: the Islamic countries were once the cradle of civilization and led in everything from commerce to science, but once religious fundamentalism took hold there, they quickly slid to the bottom and now lag the rest of the world. Republican thought would land us in the same place.

To Snippy-

You said "@ Jerry, who asked So….how is this different from what President Bush was doing.??? "

It's EXTREMELY different. Bush basically sent a few token troops to Afghanistan, then turned all his focused attention to Iraq and finishing his daddy's war. He ignored the need for appropriate diplomatic dialogue with Pakistan and Afghanistan and the need to use the tools available to us, such as aid money, to secure the support of Pakistan's government and its public, instead choosing to hypocritically support a military dictatorship that was won by coup, despite all the evidence suggesting that it was Pakistan's military, if anything, that had secret ties to extremists in the region.

Keep pretending buddy. You guys NEVER cease to amaze."

Do you understand the history of conflict in Afghanistan? Time and time again it has been proven that these people are fighters. Look at what happened to Alexander the Great when he invaded, or the Soviets.

You want to know why they failed so miserably? Its easy, in terrain such as Afghanistan, you CANNOT have a huge force in country and expect to maintain success.

Afghanistan is land-locked, and our only airbase in the north, in Kyrgistan* (im sorry if I spelled that wrong, but I dont have time to look for the correct spelling) is being closed.

How are we going to maintain a large force in Afghanistan? Land-locked and mountainous, its going to be hard.

Do a little history research before you blindly follow your dictator.

This guy is a hollywood actor, even better a great used car salesman.
It still drives me crazy how we can elect a man who has never held a full time job ever. Who never has ran a business. What is he going to do next invade Pakistan and then everyone will say great job O". If Bush was still here you people would be camped out front and never leave. Obama is a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!

About time that some more effort was spent on Afghanistan, though I do object to the $1.5 Billion going to Pakistan. Given the latest concessions made by the Pakistani government, the Taliban and Al Queda will end up with better autonomy to conduct their operations. I dare say that Pakistan isn't much of an ally in this campaign against terror, be it intentional or through the lack of ability to hold control within its own borders. In the not to distant future, we may find the Pakistani government switch allegiance in this war.

Tread carefully, President Obama, this is a dangerous region with minimal room for error.

Did you know the USA put the Taliban in charge in the first place
in the war against Russia? And did you know who supported
Sadam Husein in the war with Iran? Yes, it was the USA.
Who supported the military regimes in Argentine, Chili etc. etc.
Again the USA.
So many times you have to fight the ones you supported with arms and military knowledge because of bad policys in the past.
Hopely Barack Obama will make the right choises this time.
I am hopefull!

Where do you think the Taliban and their buddies got all those Anti-tank missiles and shoulder launched ground to air missiles and other neat stuff? Hmmm... I wonder why there was so much cheap black hash and heroin on the streets in the late 1980's. Hmmm...

Give money to Pakistan? So what? Its China's money anyway.

Coherence, coherence, coherence!

In this economic time, the investment strategy of this administration in dealing at home in facing issues relating to our energy, education, healthcare and environment are set to create and find new and better balance for peace, security and prosperity. This is clearly the same strategy now used in Afghanistan and Pakistan and allies! Finally, in this new beginning, we are seeing coherence in our behaviors, values, principles and actions at home and abroad! To me, this strategy is way more planned than the Irak strategy! To me, this much needed coherence is required since it calls on all of us in being coherent in our application of our values and principles in our daily lives as much at home as abroad from us, friends and allies! We finally understand to invest time and energy in people, in creating a landscape to secure and promote people's daily activities from cultural to economical, to protect more of humanity and see less destructions since this is what September 11, 2001 and any other attacks has taken away from us to see less of our landscape that showed activities of our humanity to live freely, equally and responsible lives for ourselves and towards one another!
This strategy shows that if we are responsible for our people and our security at home for all our activities we are also responsible for people and their security abroad for their activities to give them hope and actual signs that their humanity has the right to exist freely, equally and for all of us to be responsible partners towards one another! This is the real change that is needed at home and abroad from all of us! For me, this is the change I have been waited for!

I know it is neccessary to help over there, BUT, i.5 BILLION dollars a year ? we need that money here at home 1st...

A combined military, diplomatic, and economic strategy is the right approach.

1.5 billion per year is unfortunate but it's where the 9/11 terrorists were trained and is an area which is still dangerous. The military is needed to deal with the people who are already terrorists. Education and the economic prosperity which comes with it is the key to preventing their kids from becoming terrorists. The prevention part is important unless we want to be there forever.

If this is compared to 10 billion per month in Iraq (which had nothing to do with 9/11), it's a much better deal.

@ Hank........ "worst President EVER" ? WHAT are you basing your condemnation on? You spew vile but you offer NO FACTS.

@ ED from Dallas...... Well said, sir. I agree with you.

Also, to ALL the critics, nay-sayers and hate-mongers......... READ the article!

And another thing, BUSH STARTED THE WARS THAT BANKRUPTED OUR NATION!

The notion that Republicans are just the party of no and are interested in just obstructing Obama is false.

Republicans support Obama's policy in Afganistan and Iraq. Actually Iraq looks like a continuation of the Bush policy, guess Obama wised up. And there is some Republican support for the Obama policy on correcting the financial insdutry.

But there can be no support from Republicans on the out of control spending represented in Obama's budget. It is nothing short of the wilful destruction of or country. The first responsiblity is the success of our country. It Obama must fail for our contry to succed, than that is how it has to be.

Well Mr. President, forgive me for sounding selfish. I can care less about Pakistan and building anything for them. Our money needs to be directed to us first. The middle east is it's own worst enemy. I say NO to fund them for anything. AMERICA FIRST!!! NO special favors should be issued to any middle eastern country until we have our ducks in a row here in America.

Wow! Some of you people can't stand a COMPRENSIVE approach where the generals and others are consulted. You can't just win a war with bullets. That was something the Bush Administration never figured out. He veered off course into Iraq instead of focusing on Afganistan. Thank goodness we finally have a Thinker and a Doer in the White House. One who is not locked into "Staying The Course" at all costs no matter what changes.

HANK...............well you are alittle premature aren't you?? I am a moderate who voted for our new President. The otherside scared me with VP choice and the fact that during the Election and after the Election your side hasn't any alternatives . DUDE, the Republican Budget has NO FIGURES OR STATISTICS !!! NEGATIVE....NEGATIVE. Please get your folks to give us SOMETHING CONCRETE...those of us in the middle cannot wait for ever !!! Please enough HOT AIR....OPTIONS DUDE !!!!

With rampant corruption all around in Afghan Pak area, less than one tenth of the $1.5B would reach to the people; instead, it’s a way to make many local thugs very rich.

Obama is a joke this guy should have his own tv time like the View where he can invite he Russian President Chevez and the EU the whole world is laughing at us still

Best president in the history of the country, and he's only been in for 2 months. Obama is amazing me almost every day.

Michael "C" Lorton, Virginia
"then why is it only Americans soldiers dying there?"

We may not have the size of force the US has but 116 Canadians have died fighting along side US forces in Afghanistan. Actually 21 other countries have had soldiers die in this war.

Ignorant statements like yours are usually heard on Fox news.

until we realize that pakistan is not our ally and is doing nothing to help rid their northern provinces of the taliban, we are in for another Vietnam.

We need to send more than predators after the taliban in pakistan. We need to send a fleet of B52s and B2s!

Unless there is equal participation by the rest of the world we should pull out. I'm willing to risk another 9/11 and turn the other cheek rather than spend another trillion. The damage done by 9/11 and the lives lost, while horrifying and tragic, was not worth the cost of Iraq. Although I supported the invasion of Afghanistan, it has been bungled so badly that I now regret supporting the Afghanistan war and now wish we had done nothing but turn the other cheek after 9/11.

We may be attacked again by terrorists. I support not responding to the attack by military action in the future. We have seen over the past 8 years that military action against terrorism is the incorrect way to use resources in fighting terrorism. If we had invested the money in helping Iran to develop safe nuclear power, helping Syria, helping the 'stans, we would have been much better off.

To the totally clueless, Obama said we would have to continue, maybe even send more troops to Afganistan. And we are bringing troops home from Iraq, where they shouldn't have been in the 1st place.

Why would we give more money to Pakistan? They already blew 10 billion thanks to corruption.

khif: first of all, the Taliban started the afghan war by sheltering and funding and buddy-buddying folks who drove hijacked four planes and murdered thousands in cold blood.

The criticism of Obama's treatment of Afghanistan is that he got elected by criticizing Bush for what Obama called a lethal combination of billions of war spending + billions in domestic spending...and now with the war in Afghanistan Obama is doing the same thing, which opens him up for the same criticism he was so eager to deal...when it favored him politically.

Smart move for the President to do this. Why are Republicans objecting? When Bush went to war with false intelligence you all stood behind him 100% with no questions asked. And now you don't support our President going after Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan where the Taliban actually is??? Hyprocrisy!!!

Authorize $1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people? They will take the money and still support Taliban.

I voted for the President but I do not approve of this. We should pull out of the mideast and start closing military bases around the world. No longer can we be the worlds policeman and try to impose our views on the rest of the world.

Bush did NOT start this war...I believe the terriost did, Please tell me what Countries are gonna bail us out and give us 1.5 billion a year for 5 years ???

"The safety of people around the world is at stake."

Half true, Iraq is also pretty significant too. Unfortunately it's bad politics to mention how critical Iraq still is so let's focus on Afghanistan while Baghdad burns.

My fellow Americans. I feel ashamed at how some of you seem so ignorant on the issue of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

One, the Pakistani government is on the verge of collapse. They control lest than half of the country. (Why do you think Osama is hiding there?), and they have over 100 nuclear warheads.

You cannot fight the Taliban in Afghanistan since all they will do is run across the border in Pakistan and fight you from there. We cannot invade Pakistan. They have nukes.

Basically, to win in Afghanistan, we have to have the help of Pakistan. If these Taliban don’t have a place to hide, we can eliminate them. The road to success of the Afghan war goes through Pakistan. We have to convince the Pakistani population that they stand to loose if they entertain these Taliban. (Read Obama's speech). We cannot just tell them to be against the Taliban. They understand good roads, schools, hospitals etc. (I know this. I came from a third world country)That is why Obama has to invest all this money in such projects.

Lastly, we have to make sure under all costs; I mean all costs, that the Pakistani nukes do not fall into a rogue government there. If this happens, only God can save us.

My president does the right thing. I couldn't say that for the past eight years.

Thankyou Pres. Obama you truly the glory we have waited for to lead us out of this Bush mess.OBAMA2012 the blessed one
thanks and God bless America

1.5 billion per year for Pakistan seems like a much better deal to me then 10 billion per month in Iraq. Pakistan is a country with nukes by the way - probably not someone we want to piss off because of a war WE started over there.

I really wonder, did people honestly expect our problems to go away on January 20th? I fail to see how people can logically blame Obama for the strife in the world. That's like coming home to find your house destroyed by a tornado and blaming your child for messing the place up. Get a grip people, you're flying off the handle.

Mr. Bush goes in to ferret out terrorists. Mr. Obama goes in to add more folks to the dole.

Incredible waste of tax payer money... you cannot buy love by giving away money or talking nice. Our government has lost its sense of purpose.

@Typical......You are right about keeping tabs on the $ we send. Unlike his predecessor who lost billions to corrupt adminstrations overseas.

@ Mario...tell me what Duhbya did for PAKISTAN instead of his pet project Iraq? He focused so much on showing how tough he was by pushing Saddam around he completely lost touch with the real area of war.

karen – listen to what you are saying. Obama have provided the funds to do what is expected of us here in this country but you realize that the Republicians are standing in the way of you town getting help. It is not Obama you should be judging but the Party of NO Republicans that want allow funds to be taken in you state. Please make no mistake about the two pieces of this puzzle. Obama is protecting our country and is trying to get our country back on track. The American people here needs to step up to the plate and help him.

@ kd who said "But if we can possibly use small surgical strike forces to target insurgents then we'd at least be making some impact."

What do you think Bush was doing? Rummy had his chance to do it EXACTLY LIKE THAT, using drones and other military technology to replace feet on the ground AND IT DID NOT WORK. Bin LAden's head is still not on a spike in the WH Rose Garden where it belongs. The region is vast, the topography is extreme and the weather conditions difficult. The ONLY way this is going to work is with a vast number of troops taking to the region and sweeping through it, which history tells us Russia was unable to accomplish, although their goal was different and the resistence they met larger and more organized.

You were suppose to bring the troops home you liar

For the eight years that George W. Bush was president there were daily accusations of the President and Vice-president being war criminals and murderers, those attacks on those two honorable people continue even now that they are out of office.

I have noticed that there is not the same anger directed at this obama guy and his sidekick biden.

Why the free ride, he promised to bring the trrops home and now he is as was said of President Bush "sending them to thier slaughter" why is it acceptable to you people for this obama thing to do it?

Must be some sort of politically correct race thing. there is no other logical explination.

@ Mario, who said "when Bush wanted to do something like this,"

BUSH NEVER WANTED TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS. The only thing he did was start a war IN THE WRONG COUNTRY after sending a piddling number of troops to Afghanistan to make it look like he was trying to catch bin Laden. The distinctions are myriad.

"The safety of people around the world is at stake." If the safety of the people around the world is at stake-–then why is it only Americans soldiers dying there? Where is the rest of the world? Aren't they as concern as you are Mr. President?

Hank, you're a joke.

Obama has been president for a little over 2 months. Your statement already proves that you are incapable of objectivity and sound judgment. Thank God you don't represent the majority of Americans who are willing to give Obama the chance he worked hard for to become president.

Feel free to judge Obama after his first term. We gave Bush 2 terms and he gave the world plenty to judge him on for decades.

This is the only time he has sounded presidential and not like a Chicago Politician.

Then he had to ruin it with installing Eric Holder" as attorney general and give us a Black History Lesson....Eric Holder thinks we are a "Nation of Cowards" ...who thinks our gun laws should be changed because of Mexico...who defended terrorists in his practice....and looks like he is going to release terrorists to our streets. Eric Holder should never have been approved for the job.

Hey Hank. Let me guess in your mind President Bush, who got us in this predicament in the first place, with a mis-guided war in Iraq, an ignored war in ahganistan, an economy thats tanking, is the best President ever! Why don't you follow the lead of the true worst President and give the current POTUS your silence until his term up! In all fairness, inspite of your bias and misguided opinion, I sure you can agree he least deserves that. Bush seems to think so.

@ karen, who said "PLease put a freese on foriegn spending take care of your own country first. "

That's just about the most unrealistic request I've seen in weeks. You people pretending he's not spending money here might want to go back to your previous posts in which you complained about how much money and spending is invovled in the Stimulus Bill, then refer to the specific areas at which that money is targeted, such as transportation and education infrastructure, etc. Listening to you talk out of both sides of your mouths is getting boring.

Why do all the posts pointing out that China is bank-rolling our new democracy always disappear?

Ha ha ha! At this rate, when all is said and done people are going to reminisce fondly on the Bush Presidency. Obama is speeding this bus known as the USA off a cliff!

That's the right approach. The same would apply to Gaza. The terrorists gain support from their general population when they look like they're the ones to bring food, schools, etc. That needs to change. Supporting the poorest will inhibit a lot of that. Go Obama!

How quickly the naysayers forget their 'hero' Bush who left Afghanistan when it could have been turned around; when the hot spots in Pakistan were not yet built. So after billions of dollars in a place that had nothing to do with the killing of Americans, they now criticize this President who DOES want to stop the safe haven for those who actually did America harm. Please, either get a brain or stop your noise. Those of us who elected this President, and those who NOW support him at the 60+ rate, want him to succeed and want this country to succeed. We are tired of your lame voices, the party of "no" and "know nothings". You are blight on this country.

How do you guys think that a war Bush started and Obama is cleaning up, is his fault?

The first thing to do (and the first mistake not to make) is to take away the bribes being paid to our enemies, part of 'the surge' strategy. Over $300 million a month was going to Shiite militia in Iraq to NOT fight. Gee, wonder where that money is going. Another Bush blunder and an incredibly dangerous one. A gamble to try and save face and get another Republican in office. Obama cannot make the same mistake.

Obama needs to listen to the military experts who are more and more urging a covert counter-strike force rather than battalions of soldiers. We could shove all our forces in their and things will never change. But if we can possibly use small surgical strike forces to target insurgents then we'd at least be making some impact.

I want to see the liberal outrage when we receive reports of civilian deaths as a result of Mr. Obama's escalation of hostilities.

Does this mean the money we give to Pakistan will be given as bonuses to senior officials as well? What about our own people? And isn't Pakistan the enemy of our ally, Israel? So he's sending more troops to Afghanistan, giving money to countries that we don't have, and how is Obama ANY different from Bush? Obama is a liar, that is how he's different.

So far I've seen nothing but haters posting to this string. I wonder if the lives of our American soldiers is important to the complainers on this board. Do we as citizens want to watch our Service members sit over there and dodge bullets and bombs or do we want our Government to use all of its resources to someday bring our troops home. Think about it, the Afgan War can't be won just on military might. Other tools have to be used, you just can't use a hammer to fix everthing.

To Jerry

He knows how to spend money in order to protect your butt from being killed by terrorists unlike his predecessor who wasted money in Irak in pursuit of Big Oil contract for his family.

President Obama I voted for you to spend money in America-on schools, roads and hospitals etc.not to send billions of dollars to Pakistan to build their schools, roads and hospital etc. I am heart broken from your poor planning and John Kerry also. I voted for him also.PLease put a freese on foriegn spending take care of your own country first. America should be spending money in other countries only in natural disaters not on building infrastructure in other countries.

Funny how that works, when Bush wanted to do something like this, he was despised, fought with and critisized by politicians, media freaks and the liberal socoalists, when the paper god Obuma does it, it is good for the country, liberalism, what a terrible disease.

Hmmm, not real big on the Pakistan part. 1st off, helping one group in the midst of turmoil usually ticks off another group. But then again, I ain't really up on Pakistan.

But still, unless this is absolutely necessary to stabilize the region or whatever, I would frown on spending another nickle over there.

Being a military vet and informed on the need of civilian efforts (medical, agricultural, education, economic, government accountability) in a fragile country...I found his plan to be very promising given the horrific conditions in the region. I also trust the primary team very much (Clinton, Gates, Petreus, Holbrook). Given the forces against us and our allies….I find this plan and the willingness to adjust if need be as a huge step in the right direction, especially since we can not afford a failed Pakistan.

@ Jerry, who asked So….how is this different from what President Bush was doing.??? "

It's EXTREMELY different. Bush basically sent a few token troops to Afghanistan, then turned all his focused attention to Iraq and finishing his daddy's war. He ignored the need for appropriate diplomatic dialogue with Pakistan and Afghanistan and the need to use the tools available to us, such as aid money, to secure the support of Pakistan's government and its public, instead choosing to hypocritically support a military dictatorship that was won by coup, despite all the evidence suggesting that it was Pakistan's military, if anything, that had secret ties to extremists in the region.

Keep pretending buddy. You guys NEVER cease to amaze.

president announced $1.5 billion a financial support to pakistan for fighting the taliban,thats all well and good.But who is going to make sure the money is spent for that particular purpose,My concern is that we have to watch that money is not going in the pocket of mr 10%.

Nice, so we get to pile more debt on our kids and grand kids to help a bunch of Terrorist... Way to go!

I appreciate the thoughtful and careful way POTUS approached this matter. He has consulted with his national security team, Secretaries Clinton and Gates and the general in over the Afganistan war to come up with a comprehensive plan. At least this time, all things are taken into account and there is a "REAL" strategy. I don't like war and want our troops to come home ASAP, but like he said, we did not ask for the war in Afganistan, but we are committed to finishing it for our people sake and our security. Change is here!

One thing you can say about peace activist Cindy Sheehan is that she is consistent.

My lord you naysayers are persistent. You want the president to fail and you want to crush the hopes of your fellow citizens. You completely misrepresent his position on issues and the intent of his plan. And you call him a socialist And you don't even know what the word means. If you did, you would realize that police departments, fire departments, taxes, SOCIAL SECURITY...that's all social security

Pakistan is on the verge of being a failed state. The government there controls less than half of the country. The Bush administration made things worse by supporting the dictator Musharaf. And the worst of all, they have more than 100 nuclear warheads.

So before you write your ignorat comments, just know that if Pakistan collapses, 9/11 will look like a highway car pileup.

So we'll see if Obama's 'popularity' with the world translates into more international support in Afghanistan. I'm thinking not.

What about our schools..or mexicos violence?? Seaping into America.all these years we were fighting the war on terror and it seems that they are still going strong!

So....how is this different from what President Bush was doing.??? Things are a little different when you are the guy in the hot seat. Oh, and let's not forget spending another BILLION AND A HALF in Pakistan. Does this guy know how to do anything other than spend our money??

He called on Congress to p@ss a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Richard Lugar authorizing "$1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people every year over the next five years – resources that will build schools, roads, and hospitals, and strengthen Pakistan's democracy."

And how will we make sure this money does not get into the hands of terrorists? So far this administration has not inspired confidence in their ability to oversee the money they spend.

Worst.

President.

EVER!!!!!

The Dream Team....Go get 'em.

Another piecemeal approach by Obama.