George W. Bush explained his decision to send thousands of additional troops to Iraq, at a time when most Americans had soured on the United States' involvement there, as a strategic necessity: Without more boots on the ground, "radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits." Barack Obama, who came to office promising to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, justified his "surge" of 30,000 more troops to the Afghan war as a matter of principle: "America will speak out on behalf of ... human rights, and tend to the light of freedom and justice and opportunity and respect for the dignity of all peoples. That is who we are."

Washington Post