That sums up how Obama's system will probably be greeted - with division. And the tenth Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. Another seven thousand will protect ISAF's new division HQ in Kandahar.

An official announcement isn't anticipated till after Obama's trip to Far East ( November 11-19 ), decreasing the percentages the government happily informed the press. Obama stands to gain little by having his most recent system batted around in public. Left wingers sometimes opposed escalation before Hamid Karzai shook into power, and must have cringed when Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, asserted Karzai's legitimacy among Afghans was at best, in query at this time and, at worst, doesn't exist. Thirty thousand troops won't satisfy them because General McChrystal's plan isn't satisfied ; McChrystal determined twenty thousand troops pose a "high risk"of failure, forty thousand a "medium-risk, and eighty thousand a "low risk."Another delay will likewise annoy the GOP. With Afghanistan's election over, now Obama wants to debate with America's allies? Shouldn't he have been doing that all along? President Obama faces further hindrances to his political support. Waiting until after Pacific Rim is a worked out try to drum up troops and resources from Europe. McClatchy reports, "The administration wants to avoid making the impression - at home and away - the US'is going it alone' in Afghanistan, expounded one army official."But with Canada and Holland due to withdraw in 2011 and Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Australia restrained by domestic pressure, Obama will be pressed to dodge the impression of "going it alone.".