President Obama has signed marching orders for at least 9,000 Marines who will head to Afghanistan's Helmand province directly after his Afghan strategy announcement on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009. Directly following his speech, the next day, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Politico reports that this will mark the first time "in years" the Secretary of Defense has testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In preparation for his speech tomorrow, the president is also meeting on Monday with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Australia has 1,550 troops in Afghanistan and has increased its commitment indicated that he was "in it for the long haul," but would oppose any increased troop commitment. Pakistan, also anxious to be brought to the policy table, made a "giant leap" today in easing US concerns about their nuclear security. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, made a compromise deal to shelter himself from corruption prosecutions and possible impeachment, and handed over control of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the Parliament. A presidential spokesman said Zardari was "giving up dictatorial power."
Liberal anti-war groups have geared up their rhetoric against the war. Film maker Michael Moore harshly condemned the president on his website, saying, "With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. Your potential decision to expand the war ... will do more to set your legacy in stone than any of the great things you've said and done in your first year. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop," Fox News also reports that, "MoveOn.org, which broke its tradition of not intervening in the Democratic primary process to endorse Obama over Clinton during the campaign, has urged members to send messages to the White House voicing their opposition to the troop increase. 'President Obama is poised to make a critical decision about the Afghanistan war in the next few weeks. He needs to hear that we need an exit strategy -- not tens of thousands more troops stuck in a quagmire.'" And Code Pink has also called supporters of the anti-war movement to hold vigils and protest both before and after Obama's speech.
Some lawmakers are responding as well, against a troop surge. Critical chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, Rep. David Obey (D-WI) opposes the president's strategy and has called for a new tax to fund the escalation. Sen. Carl Levin, (D-MI)., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee also opposes the surge, instead favoring a focus on the Afghan army and increased trainers. Levin told Face the Nation, "I favored additional trainers. I have favored a real surge in equipment. But the key here is an Afghan surge, not an American surge," Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) compared the Afghan strategy to Vietnam.
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