Jamie Weinstein

Tonight, President Barack Obama will finally outline what he plans to do in Afghanistan three months after receiving recommendations from the General he appointed, Stanley McChrystal. Below is the speech Obama should give (though obviously it should be a bit longer and more detailed). Most crucially, Obama must explain to the American people the importance of the Afghan mission and communicate his resolve to see the mission through until victory is achieved.

Commander in chief.

For three months I have been deliberating over the situation in Afghanistan. Tonight, after this extensive and exhaustive policy review, I have made my decision on how to proceed.

I have determined it is best to completely fulfill General Stanley McChrystal’s request for 40,000 more troops. General McChrystal is one of the finest counterterrorism minds in the world and it was his considered determination that the war in Afghanistan could not be won without a counterinsurgency campaign.

For Americans, this means our military men and women will be engaged in the Afghan theater for many more years to come. I didn’t take this decision lightly. After eight years, I know many Americans wonder what the purpose is of this mission? Can we win? What does winning mean? How does fighting in Afghanistan help America?

First, we can win and we will win. Winning means degrading and destroying al-Qaeda’s ability to strike us on our homeland like they did so gruesomely on Sept. 11, 2001, a day no American will ever forget.  A crucial component of weakening al-Qaeda is creating an Afghan government strong enough to prevent the Taliban from retaking the country.  If the Taliban were able to once again control Afghanistan, not only would the Taliban’s cruel, repressive polices return to brutalize the Afghan people, but almost certainly the Taliban would allow al-Qaeda to use Afghanistan once again as a safe haven to plan and plot against our homeland as they did prior to 9/11.

With their Afghan safe haven, Bin Laden and his compatriots would look to mount another major terrorist attack against the United States. If they were able, these killers would not think twice about killing hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans in an attack that would make 9/11 look like child’s play. And the 9/11 attacks were up to this point the worst coordinated terrorist attacks in the history of the world.

Just as alarming as al-Qaeda once again finding a safe haven in Afghanistan to plot against the United States is the very real fear that a Taliban controlled Afghanistan could be used as a base to destabilize neighboring Pakistan. However remote the possibility, the threat of a nuclear Pakistan falling into the hands of Islamists is terrifying. It would be our worst nightmare realized: Islamists in control of nuclear weapons.  By preventing Afghanistan from falling again into the hands of the Taliban, we are taking steps to promote stability in the region.

So, fellow Americans, there is no question that this mission is important to the safety of the United States.  It is vital that we succeed there. We can win in Afghanistan. And under the strategy that General McChyrstal devised and I approved, we will win.

I know the message I am delivering tonight is weighty and serious. There is light at the end of the tunnel but it will not come without many hard years of toil and sacrifice by our military. Yet, while this message may be somewhat heavy for Americans, especially those military families who have loved ones that are too often far away from home, the message is devastating to the Taliban and their al-Qaeda brethren. When they wake up tomorrow they will live with the realization, whether they choose to recognize it or not, that their fate is sealed. For in announcing this plan, I am declaring to Taliban and al-Qaeda members that their future is bleak. To them, this message is the death knell. My words should clearly convey that the world’s greatest fighting force has the resolve and dedication to defeat them.

Let me be more precise. The United States military, while strengthening Afghan governmental institutions to stand on their own against internal threats, will be on the hunt for al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and around the world. Nowhere will al-Qaeda members sleep softly. Nowhere will they be safe. Nowhere will they find safe haven. They will live with the knowledge that at any moment and with little warning the United States military could be there to eliminate them.

To ordinary Afghanis, I want to say this: America and fellow coalition allies have the resolve to win. We have the resolve to finish the fight. We will not allow your country to fall to the Taliban again. We ask you to join us in ridding your country of this terror that has infected your lives for too long.  To win, we need your help.

This mission will not be easy. The situation we find ourselves in is not ideal. There is much corruption in the Afghan government. Taliban and al-Qaeda forces continue to find sanctuary in parts of Pakistan. Our partners in Pakistan are sometimes not as helpful as we need them to be.

But we can win. We must win. And as long as I am president I will do everything in my power to ensure that we do win because winning is vital to protect the American people.

God Bless America and God bless the best among us, our brave men and women in the United States military.

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