This past Tuesday night, Mr. Obama with a backdrop of West Point cadets addressed the nation and announced his decision to send 30,000 more troops to slow the momentum of the Taliban in Afghanistan.  Unquestionably, his decision will offend the far left of his party that feverishly supported his campaign last year.  Personally, I support the Commander and Chief in making what had to be one of the toughest political choices of his administration.  However, I disagree with Obama setting a deadline for our efforts before those efforts get underway … war does not mean that you fight until you run out of time, you fight until you win!  Furthermore, I am concerned that an early withdrawal from the region will create the same vacuum of power that allowed the Taliban to rise to power in 1989 when the U.S. prematurely exited the region after the Russians gave up their 10-year war with the Afghans.  Lastly, Obama’s "new" strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan has striking similarities with the Bush surge in Iraq.  Team Obama ran on a message of "change", they positioned themselves as being "smarter" than Bush, but after 25 hours of closed-door deliberations in the White House Situation Room … they made the same decision as Bush.

Download this week’s podcast of "Cash & Canion" for a breakdown of Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan.  In addition, Cash and Canion discusses the impact of last week’s job summit with over 150 corporate leaders, policymakers, and non-profits.

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