'Our security is at stake': Obama orders 30K more troops to Afghanistan

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Declaring "our security is at stake," President Barack Obama ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops into the long war in Afghanistan Tuesday night, nearly tripling the force he inherited as commander in chief. He promised an impatient public he would begin bringing units home in 18 months.

Utahns had mixed reactions to Obama's speech.

Lisa Barnes said she listened with interest, wishing there had been more troops around in October when her son, Pfc. Kimble Han, was killed in Afghanistan. Before his death, Han told his mother about the U.S. having far fewer troops in Afghanistan than in Iraq and how so many died from roadside bombs, Barnes said.

"If they had more troops, maybe the enemy would be more frightened," she said. "But I'm just coming from a mom's viewpoint. I'd hate to see more kids go over there and die, but I feel like if they can get over there, they can get the job done."

Jennie Taylor, a 30-year-old mother whose husband, Brent, and his five brothers are all in the Army, said she'd rather see every soldier deployed overseas to get the job done quickly than have the conflict drag on for years.

"I don't want my husband to go over there," said Taylor, of Ogden. "We have neighbors who just lost their son recently."

First Lt. Brent Taylor, who recently returned home from Iraq, said it was clear from the beginning that more troops were needed overseas.

Liz Hunter remembers the promise her foster brother, Army Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss, made before he went overseas. He promised everything would be fine. But the 27-year-old soldier was killed in August in Afghanistan.

Following Obama's announcement to send more troops, Hunter was shocked and dismayed, still bitter over the memory of her foster brother.

"You might not see them again, no matter how much they promise you," she said. "They're not going to come back if they're sent over there."

The buildup to about 100,000 troops will begin almost immediately — the first Marines will be in place by Christmas — and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone.

In a prime-time speech at the U.S. Military Academy, the president told the nation his new policy was designed to "bring this war to a successful conclusion," though he made no mention of defeating Taliban insurgents or capturing al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

"We must deny al-Qaida a safe haven," Obama said in spelling out U.S. military goals for a war that has dragged on for eight years. "We must reverse the Taliban's momentum. … And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces and government."