BREAKING NEWS: Obama to Send 30,000 More Troops

This has almost gotten as much coverage as Tiger Woods' curious crash! CBS News is reporting that Obama has authorized the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. This decision comes on the eve of Obama's official announcement of the revised, and much awaited Afghan strategy. The 30,000 additional troops, which Obama appears to be leaning towards, is categorized by General McChrystal as the "middle risk" approach, 10,000 less than what McChrystal requested.

Today, this is just a number. Tomorrow, 30,000 individual people are ordered to ship out and go into harm's way. And for what purpose? To the troops already there, what have they been fighting for? Last March, he made a robust case for the "War of Necessity" and reminded America that we are there to "deter, dismantle, and defeat" al-Qaeda. Twenty-thousand troops were sent over, including Sgt. Butters. Nine months later, President Obama will make another impassioned speech, asking America once again to rally behind the deteriorating eight-year war. Tomorrow, we find out why.

Well, at least I hope the "why" is clearly defined. I hope the rhetoric does not fall short of its promise. Perhaps tomorrow, President Obama will not only define the "why", outline the way forward, and provide specificity on the way out. But, then again, we've heard this all before.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/30/eveningnews/main5841081.shtml