First the positives: 

1. The President placed emphasis on the centrality of civil engagement (such as development and education) in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Significantly he asked for rapid passage of the bipartisan bill introduced by Sen. Lugar and Sen. Kerry bill ($1.5 billion a year to Pakistan for 5 years) as well as the Sen. Cantwell – Rep. Van Hollen bill that allows goods created in tribal economic zones to be shipped to the US duty free.

2. The President focused on engagement with the Taliban and crucially paired engagement with a focus on supporting local tribe level reconciliation in Afghanistan.

3. Another positive was the inference that the troop escalation will be oriented around the Killcullen strategy of protecting civilian development efforts. Protecting the “civilian surge” will be key.

4. President Obama underscored his support for increasing civilian capacity and more resources for State and USAID. He noted the importance of approaching the Afghanistan-Pakistan problem in a multilateral way and supported key roles for the UN, World Bank and IMF re: both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

5. He outlined a regional approach that includes engaging Iran and Central Asian countries. And without saying “Kashmir” he hinted that strengthening relationship between India and Pakistan was vital. Finally, and significantly, he called for an end to corruption in Afghanistan and underscored his support for democracy in Pakistan.

A couple of negatives that jumped out at me did not come from the speech but the reporting just before and after from the Pentagon:

1. It seems that there is going to be a continuation in the use of strike drones – which creates civilian resentment. 

2. The 17,000 troops committed pre-speech + the 4000 trainers announced today are seen by some at the Pentagon as insufficient and they want to see another 20,000 or so by year end.