President Obama will address the American people Tuesday night to lay out his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan. It includes sending tens of thousands of additional troops to fight Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents.
Bomb-sniffing dogs scoured the auditorium and camera crews staked out positions where President Barack Obama will deliver what could be the defining speech of his presidency.
Tuesday morning the president called Afghan president Hamid Karzi with a promise to send 30,000 more troops. The first wave would arrive by Christmas.
The president's plan also includes a promise that U.S. troops will start leaving by the end of his first term.
The president choose to detail his new Afghanistan strategy at the West Point Military Academy. Many cadets who will be in the audience could serve on the front lines.
The surge could cost an additional $30 billion a year, and some members of Congress are frustrated that the president has not offered a specific plan to pay for it.
President Obama knows he can't go it alone. He is working the phones asking U.S. allies around the world to pledge more troops. He wants 10,000 more, and Great Britain has agreed to help.
But the economy is making it a tough sell both abroad and at home.
