Escalation: President Obama Orders 30,000 More U.S. Soldiers to Afghanistan

The first deployment of Marines will reach this beleaguered nation by Christmas.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Before a backdrop of the cadets of the military academy at West Point President Obama ended a three-month review of a request from General Stanley McChrystal for more troops for Afghanistan.

On Tuesday evening the President declared that "our security is at stake" and ordered the deployment of 30,000 additional troops to the increasingly unpopular war.

While the speech was still being given the General responded from Kabul, "The Afghanistan-Pakistan review led by the president has provided me with a clear military mission and the resources to accomplish our task."

The first deployment of Marines will reach this beleaguered nation by Christmas. The cost of the escalation will top 30 billion dollars in the first year alone.

The President's speech was delivered during prime time and was widely covered nationally and internationally.

He attempted to persuade a wary American public that his escalation of troop levels and new approach will "bring this war to a successful conclusion."

He insisted "We must deny al-Qaida a safe haven.... We must reverse the Taliban's momentum. ... And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces and government ".

He indicated that "...after 18 months, our troops will begin to come home." How this will be accomplished remains to be seen.

The history of fighting in Afghanistan has been a continuous one. The record of other military efforts by other Nations is not reassuring in considering whether such a timetable will be possible.

A new Gallup survey shows that only 35 percent approve of Obama's handling of the war; 55 percent disapprove. The current Afghan war has involved American troops for 8 years.

According to the Pentagon, 849 Americans have been killed in the American efforts in Afghanistan.

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