A Survey of Reaction to Obama’s Afghanistan Build-Up and Pull-Out Strategy

Politico: Afghan Uncertainty on Right and Left The White House’s new Afghan war strategy sounds an uncertain trumpet for many in Congress, inviting criticism from the left and right even as lawmakers are asked to commit billions more at a time of economic distress at home.

Ralph Peters, NY Post: Setting Up Our Military to Fail President Obama will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan -- but he'll "begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011." Then why send them? If you're going to tell the Taliban to be patient because we're leaving, what's the point in upping the blood ante? For what will come down to a single year by the time the troops hit the ground?

USA Today: Dems Balk at Troop Plan President Obama's long-awaited decision on the course ahead in Afghanistan provoked a topsy-turvy world on Capitol Hill.

Washington Times: Obama Pledges to Avoid Repeat of Vietnam President Obama on Tuesday night declared that the Afghanistan war will not become a second Vietnam, and he pledged to start winding down the U.S. incursion in 2011, after his accelerated strategy to defeat terrorist groups and erect a functioning government takes hold.

Washington Post: Obama Makes the Conflict Truly His Own President Obama assumed full ownership of the war in Afghanistan on Tuesday night with a speech arguing that the fastest way out of the conflict is a rapid and significant escalation of it. But the muted response from key Democratic congressional leaders and the skepticism from Republicans about an exit strategy signaled that the president faces a stiff fight to sell the policy.

WSJ: Success Hinges on Strength of Karzai President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan strategy represents a significant gamble, the success of which will turn on two key assumptions about the main characters in the Afghan drama.