How will Congress pay for the Afghan surge?

Video: Obama outlines Afghanistan strategy

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   >>> little later.

   >>> let's begin with president obama 's decision to escalate the war in afghanistan with an additional 30,000 u.s. troops . chuck todd is nbc's chief white house correspondent. chuck, good morning to you.

   >> reporter: well, good morning, matt. president obama traveled to west point last night to lay out his new strategy for afghanistan , and it's what many in the military and the administration believe is the last best chance america has to bring the war in afghanistan to some sort of successful end. the president made his case for war eight years after the u.s. was attacked on 9/11.

   >> i made this decision because i am convinced that our security is at stake in afghanistan and pakistan. this is the epicenter of violent extremism practice by al qaeda .

   >> reporter: the president called for a rapid deployment of 30,000 more u.s. troops to be in the war zone by next summer. that deployment is faster than what was originally recommended by the u.s. commander on the ground, general stanley mcchrystal.

   >> in short, the status quo is not sustainable.

   >> reporter: when the entire force is in place, for the first time, there will be more u.s. troops in afghanistan than in iraq. the president also expects nato nations to contribute as many as 7,000 more troops and up to 5,000 more from the afghans, giving mcchrystal the 40,000 he originally asked for.

   >> these additional american and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to afghan forces and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of afghanistan in july of 2011 .

   >> reporter: the president used his speech to lay out his strategy and to rebut critics.

   >> there has never been an option before me that called for troop deployments before 2010 . so, there has been no delay or denial of resources necessary for the conduct of the war during this review period.

   >> reporter: he dismissed some members of his own party who have called for a rapid withdrawal to avoid what they believe is another vietnam.

   >> to abandon this area now and to rely only on efforts against al qaeda from a distance would significantly hamper our ability to keep the pressure on al qaeda and create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks on our homeland and our allies.

   >> reporter: and to those who believe he is wrong to set a date as a goal to begin withdrawal, the president responded.

   >> the absence of a time frame for transition would deny us any sense of urgency in working with the afghan government .

   >> reporter: while much of his speech was sober and analytical, mr. obama spoke before a room full of future officers, reverting to familiar rhetoric in calling for national unity .

   >> it's easy to forget that when this war began, we were united. bound together by the fresh memory of a horrific attack. and by the determination to defend our homeland and the values we hold dear, i refuse to accept the notion that we cannot summon that unity again.

   >> reporter: now, response from democratic lawmakers has been very tepid, supportive of this speech, but not necessarily the policy. on the republican side , support for the policy of about, oh, 75% of it, but then criticism of that date certain . one thing obama's supporters will point out is he didn't duck the politics of this. by putting that 2011 date out there, he's making sure that voters will be able to assess their own judgment of the policy at the ballot box in 2012 .

   >> chuck todd , thank you. we are joined now by vice

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