Is Obama ready to Give Up Fighting the Taliban?

U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, wants as many as 40 thousand new troops to try to win the war in Afghanistan. President Obama is hesitating to support this request because of the backlash from Democrats in Congress and his liberal base. A new plan under discussion is to stop fighting the Taliban and cede much of the country to them. The focus would then be on fighting al-Qaida. This change would greatly reduce the amount of troops needed.

From AP via Yahoo News:

President Barack Obama is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan's political future and appears inclined to send only as many more U.S. troops as needed to keep al-Qaida at bay, a senior administration official said Thursday.

The sharpened focus by Obama's team on fighting al-Qaida above all other goals, while downgrading the emphasis on the Taliban, comes in the midst of an intensely debated administration review of the increasingly unpopular eight-year-old war.

Listen to Candidate Barack Obama criticize President Bush for failing to commit enough troops and resources to win the war against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Candidate Obama also promised to make the fight against the Taliban a top priority.

Our troops and our NATO allies are performing heroically in Afghanistan, but I have argued for years that we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to Iraq. That's what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier this month. And that's why, as President, I will make the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban the top priority that it should be. This is a war that we have to win.

Obama said,

This is a war that we have to win.

Let me fix that for you Mr President,

This is a war that we have to win surrender.