At least 25,000 more troops needed

U.S. commander says less than 25,000 troops won't be enough to win. Opportunity to close war is turning, says David Kilcullen(advises U.S. commanders in Iraq). Obama met with top advisers to talk strategy and troops after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Gen. Stanley McChrystal(commander in Afghanistan) is asking for up to 40,000 troops. Some say there is an option to send 60,000 troops, doubling U.S. force in the country. The Obama administration needs to finish strategy a.s.a.p. says Kilcullen. He named 3 problems in Afghanistan: lack of legitimacy for the government, existence of safe places for terrorists across the border, and lack fo military resources. Kilcullen thinks it won't be possible to protect Afghan population without input of additonal resources. Perceptions of Afghan people are critical to turning the war around. The people are angry because we are not providing security. It is critical to end the corruption. It creates anger and bad government, then creates space for Taliban, and leads to cultivation across the country. Kilcullen has never seen a better leadership team in International Security Assistance Force, U.S. military, and American Embassy. Afghan military has improved but still have problems with police. Biggest problem is the civilian leadership.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/09/amanpour.kilcullen/index.html?eref=rss_politics

In my opinion, I don't think we need to send more troops to Afganistan. If the oppurtunity to close the war is turning then why didn't we finish the war when it first opened. We could have had the entire war over with by now and we wouldn't need to send 25,000 to 60,000 troops over to Afganistan. I think that the commanders and President Obama should have talked and figured out the strategy to close the war a while ago. As for the problems in Afganistan, the U.S. should help them start to fix the problems and see if they can finish fixing them so we can remove the troops. If the people are angry at us for not providing security we need to start giving them the security they need and have them take over. I think that is all the corruption ends and the country is fine, after a while we can have all the troops come home. In the end, the Afgan people need to set aside their differences and come together to fix the problems that their country has.