The MSM and the blogosphere are surfeited with comments on President Obama's Afghanistan policy described in his Tuesday night address at the U.S. Military academy. I have taken the liberty of including some marginal comments (in italics) to the full text below. Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Eisenhower Hall Theatre, United States Military Academy at West Point, West Point, New York

8:01 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening.  To the United States Corps of Cadets (Perhaps the United States Military Academy Corps of Cadets, but not to be noticed by those with no familiarity with it),to the men and women of our Armed Services (This is a speech about war, can't we remember to call these folks the Armed Forces?), and to my fellow Americans:  I want to speak to you tonight about our effort inAfghanistan -- the nature of our commitment there, the scope of ourinterests, and the strategy that my administration will pursue to bringthis war to a successful conclusion.  It's an extraordinary honor forme to do so here at West Point -- where so many men and women haveprepared to stand up for our security, and to represent what is finestabout our country.

To address these important issues, it's important to recall whyAmerica and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan inthe first place.  We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001,19 men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000people.  They struck at our military and economic nerve centers.  Theytook the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard totheir faith or race or station.  Were it not for the heroic actions ofpassengers onboard one of those flights, they could have also struck at (another)one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killedmany more.  read more »