While President Obama took too much time in making his decision, it seems he has taken much of the advice given by his generals in the field, and we now have a plan to win the war and bring our brave soldiers home.

Although the 30,000 additional troops being sent are less than what General McChrystal had asked for, the President has decided to make a substantial commitment in order to secure the peace in Afghanistan, and not allow it to fall back into the hands of the Taliban only to become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda once again.

I am encouraged that the President has decided to do what is best for the security of the United States and the Afghan people, and not follow through with his rhetoric from the campaign trail to appease his liberal base. The President has upped the number of troops in Afghanistan, and continued the process to finalize the security of Iraq – all of which are vital to our national security. 

We now must wait to see if NATO will help with this process, and that NATO forces will have effective rules of engagement to help secure the peace along side American forces. We must also wait to see how exactly the President's timetable will work in regards to the goals we are working towards in Afghanistan. I also share Senator Alexander's concern "that the administration is more focused on an exit strategy than a success strategy", and I hope the President will make sure our troops have the tools necessary to succeed in the field before he starts the exit process.

While I wish the President would have come to this conclusion sooner, I am pleased that he is taking strong steps towards stabilizing Afghanistan and continuing to deny safe havens to terrorists around the world.