But it's worth it.
Words.
"Mr. Obama's troop decision is both correct and courageous: correct because it is the only way to prevent a defeat that would endanger this country and its vital interests; and courageous because he is embarking on a difficult and costly mission that is opposed by a large part of his own party. Importantly, the president did not set an end date or a timetable for the mission beyond July 2011; the pace of extracting U.S. forces will depend on developments on the ground.
His months of deliberation appear to have given him a very specific -- and perhaps overly narrow -- vision of what the United States will and will not seek to accomplish. Defeating al-Qaeda was the only goal to which Mr. Obama expressed an unambiguous commitment. While "we will continue to advise and assist Afghanistan's Security Forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul," he said, it "will be clear to the Afghan government -- and, more importantly, to the Afghan people -- that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country."
This careful balancing of strategy and rhetoric will probably subject Mr. Obama to criticism from both liberals and conservatives in Congress while leaving Afghans uncertain about how much and for how long they can count on U.S. support.
...Many in America and around the world have wondered about Mr. Obama's personal dedication to winning that war. The president's speech offered a qualified answer. He said he must "weigh all of the challenges that our nation faces," and argued against a more expansive commitment to Afghanistan "because the nation I am most interested in building is our own." But he also described powerfully the threat posed by "violent extremism," and said, "it will be an enduring test of our free society and our leadership in the world." With obvious reluctance but with clear-headedness, Mr. Obama has taken a major step toward meeting that test."
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