Obama gets Afghanistan right.

For a time, I was worried. Obama had a Peace Prize, and peace prizes don’t go to war makers. But tonight President Obama somewhat bravely made the case for war, as he ordered 30,000 more U.S. military personnel into Afghanistan by next June. It’s Obama’s “surge,” put together by the same folks who mapped out the 2007 surge in Iraq that Obama opposed every step of the way.

To those who say, “But he gave us a timetable for withdrawing in 18 months!” I say, “He makes withdrawal conditional on conditions on the ground,” the same language Bush used in Iraq. Way to go, Obama.

Obama made it clear that Afghanistan isn’t Iraq. Afghanistan is the war we must fight, the one to take out the people who gave us 9.11. Iraq was different, and Obama, as we all know, would have avoided that war. Still, this wasn’t easy for Obama. Right now, the war in Afghanistan is unpopular, though Obama’s speech should help change that.

I see Afghanistan special envoy Richard Holbrooke’s strong influence over Obama’s decision. Obama’s best, most sophisticated words were about making Pakistan a strategic partner. Pakistan is our real problem, and by playing in Afghanistan, we enable America to play in Pakistan. We are operating on one side of the border, the Pakistani army on the other, and it looks like it just might become a joint operation. Way to go, Holbrooke.

National security has become a Republican issue by default. The public does hate war, but they also want America to be safe. However much it goes against Obama’s true beliefs, using military force against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in the end can help Obama politically.