The Afghan Speech Obama Should Give: Read the proposed speech here.

[Better Believe It]

The Afghan Speech Obama Should Give (But Won't)
By Tom Engelhardt
November 25, 2009

Next Tuesday, President Obama is slated to address the American people in prime time about the war in Afghanistan from West Point. "It is my intention," he said in a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, "to finish the job." Every sign indicates that he will be sending 30,000 or more new American troops into that country.

Undoubtedly, the president's speechwriters are already preparing the text for his address. In the nearly three months since he began his strategic review of the Afghan War--with leaks pouring out almost every day--the rest of us have had all the disadvantages of essentially being in on the president's councils, and none of the advantages of offering our own advice. But I don't see why we shouldn't weigh in.

What follows, then, is my version of the president's Afghan announcement. Here's my President Obama--in, I hope, something like his voice--doing what no American president has yet done and what, unfortunately, he's not going to do. So sit down, turn on your TV, and see what you think.

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary

A New Way Forward:
The President's Address to the American People on Afghan Strategy

For Immediate Release
December 2, 2009
8:01 PM. EDT

My fellow Americans,

Read the speech at:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091214/engelhardt