Afghanistan: Can Obama Sell America on This War?

President Obama offered a reasoned case for troop expansion in Afghanistan in his speech at West Point. But Americans need inspiration as well

Christopher Morris / VII for TIME

President Obama speaks at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Dec. 1

"If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan," Barack Obama said, announcing his decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, "I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow." It was the most emotional moment of his address — but it was a curious sentence, and an unsatisfying speech, defensive and slightly convoluted. Certainly, it was not a classic call to arms: nothing remotely like Shakespeare's Henry V at Agincourt or Winston Churchill during the Blitz, as conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer...

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