'I do not make this decision lightly'

WEST POINT, N.Y. - President Obama announced Tuesday that he would speed 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in coming months, but he vowed to start bringing U.S. forces home in the middle of 2011. He said that the United States could not afford an open-ended commitment and that it was time for Afghans to take more responsibility for their country.

Saying he could "bring this war to a successful conclusion," Obama set out a strategy that would seek to reverse Taliban gains in large parts of Afghanistan, protect the Afghan people from attacks, provide time for Afghanistan to build its own military capacity and a more effective government and increase pressure on Al-Qaida in Pakistan.

"I see firsthand the terrible ravages of war," Obama told 4,000 cadets, in a somber speech at the United States Military Academy. "If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow. So no, I do not make this decision lightly."

The speech at West Point, the culmination of a review that lasted three months, could well prove the most consequential of Obama's presidency. In it, he sought to convince an increasingly skeptical nation that the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the continued existence of Al-Qaida across the border in Pakistan were direct threats to U.S. security, and that he could achieve the seemingly contradictory goals of expanding American involvement in the war even as he sought to bring it responsibly to a close.

His message was directed at audiences beyond the American public. He called on foreign allies to step up their commitment, declaring, "This is not just America's war."

He delivered a pointed message to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, saying, "The days of providing a blank check are over."

Addressing critics who have likened Afghanistan to Vietnam, Obama called the comparison "a false reading of history." And he spoke directly to the U.S. people about the tough road ahead.

"Let me be clear: None of this will be easy," he said. "The struggle against violent extremism will not be finished quickly, and it extends well beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan. It will be an enduring test of our free society, and our leadership in the world."

What about the cost?

In language that often echoed themes struck by his predecessor, George W. Bush, Obama cited the longstanding moral burden carried by the United States in global affairs, and he celebrated America as a nation "founded in resistance to oppression."

With the economy weak and the issue of jobs foremost on Americans' minds, the president conceded that the new strategy would carry an expensive price tag, which he put at $30 billion this year.

Yet with some Democrats talking of a war surtax, Obama offered scant details of how he intended to pay for his new policy. White House advisers said they expected the administration would do so in the coming weeks, as officials including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testify on Capitol Hill starting Wednesday.

The strategy that Obama outlined incorporated the basic approach and came close to the force levels proposed in the counterinsurgency plan that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top military commander in Afghanistan, put forward in his blunt 66-page report in September. In that report, McChrystal said that unless significantly more troops were sent, the war in Afghanistan was likely to be lost.

But by including an explicit timetable to begin a withdrawal of U.S. troops at an as yet undetermined pace, Obama highlighted the seemingly conflicting pressures defining the debate over how to proceed: to do what is necessary to ensure that the region is not a launching pad for attacks on the United States and its allies, and to disengage militarily as quickly as possible.

The initial reactions showed the crosscurrents facing the White House. Republicans applauded the buildup of troops but questioned the commitment to a timetable for bringing them home, while many Democrats in both the House and the Senate said they were prepared to break with Obama on escalating the war, calling the proposal a serious mistake.

Obama is trying to use his own domestic politics at home to his advantage in pressing Karzai to move quickly to get his own government in shape. He is calculating, administration officials said, that the explicit promise of a drawdown starting in July 2011 -- "After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home," Obama said -- will impress upon the Afghan government that his commitment is not open-ended.

The new Afghanistan strategy draws heavily on lessons learned from Bush's so-called surge and strategy shift in Iraq in 2007, which Obama opposed as a senator and presidential candidate. A critical part of Obama's strategy is to train a reliable Afghan force.

Administration officials said that they were hoping to get a commitment for an additional 5,000 to 8,000 troops from NATO allies -- perhaps as early as Friday at a foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

Protecting city centers

Obama is sending three of the four brigades requested by McChrystal, and those troops will begin arriving in greater numbers and faster than under the original McChrystal request, in hopes of kick-starting any positive trends on the ground, administration officials said. The first Marines will begin arriving as early as Christmas, and all forces will be in place by May, a senior administration official said.

The 30,000 new American troops will focus on securing and protecting the country's top population centers, including Kabul, Khost and Kandahar, the Taliban's spiritual capital, seen as a center of gravity in pushing back insurgent advances. Military officials said that two brigades would go south, with the third going to eastern Afghanistan.

Obama also is making tougher demands on the Afghan government. White House officials said he pressed Karzai during an hourlong conversation Monday on the need to combat corruption and drug trafficking.

The AP contributed to this report.