On the December 1 edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity falsely suggested that President Obama waited until December to deploy additional troops to Afghanistan by airing a video montage of Obama's December 1 announcement that he will deploy an additional 30,000 troops followed by on-screen text stating, “But ... What has taken so long?” and video clips of Obama throughout 2008 calling for additional troops. However, Obama approved a significant increase in the number of troops serving in Afghanistan in February and March, a fact Hannity blatantly ignored to assert that Obama has had a “less-than-consistent stance on the issue of Afghanistan.”
Hannity falsely suggested Obama has not previously increased troops in Afghanistan
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Hannity suggested Obama has not previously approved an increase in troop levels in Afghanistan
From the December 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: But first, let's look back at Obama's less-than-consistent stance on the issue of Afghanistan, and how it shaped the war plan that he proposed earlier tonight.
[begin video clip]
OBAMA: This review is now complete, and as commander-in-chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
OBAMA (February 26, 2008): I have been very clear in talking to the American people about what I would do with respect to Afghanistan.
OBAMA (July 20, 2008): I believe U.S. troop levels need to increase. [...] I think it's important for us to do is to begin planning for those brigades now. If we wait until the next administration, it could be a year before we get those additional troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and I think that would be a mistake.
OBAMA (September 26, 2008): I think we need more troops. I've been saying that for over a year now. And I think that we have to do it as quickly as possible.
OBAMA (January 20, 2009): -- so help me God.
CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS: Congratulations, Mr. President.
OBAMA (February 27, 2009): We have learned that America must go to war with clearly defined goals, which is why I have ordered a review of our policy in Afghanistan.
OBAMA (March 25, 2009): We're in the process, this administration, of going through an evaluation, a strategic review of our approach to Afghanistan.
OBAMA (July 23, 2009): I'm always, you know, worried about using the word “victory” because, you know, it evokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing the surrender to MacArthur.
OBAMA (September 15, 2009): There is no immediate decision pending on resources because one of the things that I'm absolutely clear about is you have got to get the strategy right and then make determinations about resources. You certainly don't make determinations about sending young men and women into battle without having absolutely clarity about what the strategy's going to be.
[end video clip]
HANNITY: Now, we have been waiting for months for tonight's announcement -- three months, to be exact. That's three months of dithering, three months of waiting for the leader of the free world to tell us how he plans to defend our country in a fight that he once called the good war. Three months.
But Obama significantly increased troop levels during early months of his presidency
Obama approved a Marine Expeditionary Brigade and an Army Stryker Brigade. On February 17, Obama announced that he would deploy additional troops to Afghanistan.
To meet urgent security needs, I approved a request from Secretary Gates to deploy a Marine Expeditionary Brigade later this spring and an Army Stryker Brigade and the enabling forces necessary to support them later this summer. This increase has been requested by General McKiernan and supported by Secretary Gates, the Joint Chiefs and the Commander of Central Command. General McKiernan's request for these troops is months old, and the fact that we are going to responsibly drawdown our forces in Iraq allows us the flexibility to increase our presence in Afghanistan.
The deployment reportedly included 17,000 troops; “a significant troop increase.” On February 18, CNN reported that the deployment would include 17,000 troops:
President Barack Obama has approved a significant troop increase for Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
The new troop deployment is expected to include 8,000 Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as well as 4,000 additional Army troops from Fort Lewis, Washington.
“This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires,” Obama said in a written statement.
“The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, and al Qaeda supports the insurgency and threatens America from its safe haven along the Pakistani border.”
Another 5,000 troops will be deployed at a later date to support combat troops, bringing the total to 17,000 the Defense Department said. A senior administration official confirmed the total.
Obama announced the deployment for 4,000 more troops in March. On March 27, Obama announced an additional 4,000 troops would be deployed to train Afghan forces.
OBAMA: For three years, our commanders have been clear about the resources they need for training. And those resources have been denied because of the war in Iraq. Now, that will change. The additional troops that we deployed have already increased our training capacity. And later this spring we will deploy approximately 4,000 U.S. troops to train Afghan security forces. For the first time, this will truly resource our effort to train and support the Afghan army and police. Every American unit in Afghanistan will be partnered with an Afghan unit, and we will seek additional trainers from our NATO allies to ensure that every Afghan unit has a coalition partner. We will accelerate our efforts to build an Afghan army of 134,000 and a police force of 82,000 so that we can meet these goals by 2011 -- and increases in Afghan forces may very well be needed as our plans to turn over security responsibility to the Afghans go forward.