President Obama will outline troop deployment and exit strategies in his upcoming speech

The New York Times reports that senior officials in the Obama administration are indicating that while the president will announce about 30,000 additional troops be deployed to Afghanistan, it will also outline the time frame in which the conflict will be transferred to Afghan troops.

While the speech itself is still in draft form and the time frame is not disclosed by the officials, it is still encouraging information for the US forces stationed in the war-torn country. The withdrawal will not be directly tied to specific results on the ground (for example, holding a particular piece of geography for some period of time), nor will it be as definite as the Iraq withdrawal (where most US forces should be out of the country by August, and all of them out by 2011).

The hope amongst politicians is that the speech will outline the transfer of responsibility to the Afghan troops and the endgame for the 8 year conflict.

War hawks in the government are, of course, saying that outlining any exit strategy would be a horrible, awful, very bad, no good idea. The basic theory is that by outlining how America intends to exit the area will indicate to allies and enemies a lack of commitment to finishing the fight. I think they’re insane, but nobody asks my opinion on government policy makers.

The rest of the article focuses on the importance of Pakistan stepping up strikes against Taliban forces in the area, and how the American surge must be mirrored by an Afghan surge… better equipped and trained Afghan forces that will continue the fight after the American troops return home.

It’s sad that the area is so complicated and that no matter what Obama says it will annoying and dispirit some. There are no easy solutions in the region, and with the shaky polical power in Pakistan there may be no quick end in sight. But still, I for one hope that Obama outlines a reasonable exit strategy for the American troops in Afghanistan… after eight years, I think American boys and girls should be allowed to live free of the fear of being sent to Afghanistan.