Here is my initial take on Pres. Obama’s speech at West Point regarding Afghanistan:

• He seemed defensive or even mad.  I guess that was because he was at the “enemy camp” according to Chris Matthews.  He had a lot of chin thrusts which looks defiant.
• There was no explanation of why he has decided not to send the actual amount requested by Gen. McChrystal.  Why is McChrystal’s request wrong and his decision right?
• He explained that we were attacked on 9/11 and that the UN sprang into action with unpresidented paper passing.  Everything from then on was George Bush’s fault.
• He used personal pronouns with abandon as it is all about him.
• He explained he did not dither, but now that the decision has been made, the troops must move oh so quickly into the theater and take care of it all in 13 months.
• He is relying on NATO and allies to send in more soldiers.  NATO has forces in Afghanistan for many years.  Many of the nations sending NATO soldiers do not allow them to fight.  We don’t need more watchers, but more willing to  fight.
• His pronunciation of Pakistan and Taliban irritate me.  Pockeestan….  Taleeban…
• He is now saying they can work with Karzai after spending months saying that he is corrupt.  He is corrupt and everyone knows it.  It shouldn’t have been a surprise if he was paying attention as a Senator or candidate.
• I don’t think he advanced the cause any.  Those who supported increasing the forces still support the further engagement.  His problem is his left flank who don’t want any more forces sent in.
• Timetable for coming back out is ridiculous.
• I support putting in more troops and wonder why not the number  requested.

Regarding the audience.  It was great to see Dan Berchinski in the audience.  He lost his legs in Afghanistan in August and is doing so well.  It was hard for me to concentrate on the speech when they panned the audience.  I would stop the speech and look for our oldest son.  There were lots of set jaws and slow motion clapping denoting the probable bias of the military to this president.  That was no surprise.

Regarding the sleeping cadet shown on one of the channels, he wasn’t mine.  However, in his defense, the cadets were in their chairs at 4:30.  They spent over 3 hours sitting there.  They were allowed to bring one book to fill the time.  They were dressed in wool in a warm auditorium.  So one fell asleep–  Big deal.   West  Point cadets are notorious for being able to nap anywhere, anytime.  The cadets had just returned from their Thanksgiving leave where they probably didn’t sleep much.  They get up very early in the morning and went to class.  This is the last week of normal class and lots of papers and projects are due.  The cameras kept showing the big wigs and they looked awfully sleepy to.  The cadet that fell asleep will catch a lot of hell.  Too bad the camera man thought it was a good idea to feature the young cadet.