5:00 pm Members of the armed services at West Point give the president a standing ovation. Everyone's wearing black. Obama says: "We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, nineteen men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people." Then he calls Al Qaeda "a group of extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam, one of the world’s great religions, to justify the slaughter of innocents."

5:06 pm Brilliant deployment of the passive voice: "Then, in early 2003, the decision was made to wage a second war in Iraq. The wrenching debate over the Iraq War is well-known and need not be repeated here." A minute later: "But while we have achieved hard-earned milestones in Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated. After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, al Qaeda’s leadership established a safe-haven there."

5:11 pm "I owe you a mission that is clearly defined and worthy of your service." The camera pans over the crowd. Seriously, it is somber-looking gathering, considering the military's usual panache. Like a field of charcoal. It is stark and startling. He goes on: "I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home." (UPDATE, from comments: "Just FYI, the cadets' somber clothes have nothing to do with the nature of the speech--black, grey, and gold are West Point's colors, and most cadet uniforms are black and grey, sometimes with gold buttons." Thanks, MayraJane.)

5:13 pm "If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow... It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. This is no idle danger; no hypothetical threat. In the last few months alone, we have apprehended extremists within our borders who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror."

5:17 pm On the question of help from allies: "Because this is an international effort, I have asked that our commitment be joined by contributions from our allies. Some have already provided additional troops, and we are confident that there will be further contributions in the days and weeks ahead."

5:20 pm It's relaxing watching this guy speak, because you have the distinct sense—backed up by reports on the meetings in the Situation Room for the last three months—that he has really, really, really thought this through. Newsflash: One never had that sense with George W. Bush. "We're in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from spreading through that country. But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan. That is why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border." Not sure about that cancer metaphor. Wasn't keeping bad things from spreading the bad idea behind Vietnam?

5:22 pm Amazing. He's now raising counter-arguments and explaining his response to them. The sign of someone who's given this the sort of deliberating it deserves. "I recognize that there are a range of concerns about our approach. So let me briefly address a few of the prominent arguments that I have heard, and which I take very seriously. First, there are those who suggest that Afghanistan is another Vietnam. They argue that it cannot be stabilized, and we are better off cutting our losses and rapidly withdrawing. Yet this argument depends upon a false reading of history. Unlike Vietnam, we are joined by a broad coalition of 43 nations that recognizes the legitimacy of our action. Unlike Vietnam, we are not facing a broad-based popular insurgency. And most importantly, unlike Vietnam, the American people were viciously attacked from Afghanistan, and remain a target for those same extremists who are plotting along its border."

5:25 pm In an interesting twist, he connects the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the domestic issues—jobs, the economy. He talks about Eisenhower and the importance of maintaining balance between national programs. Given the economy, he says, "we simply cannot afford to ignore the price of these wars... Our prosperity provides a foundation for our power. It pays for our military. It underwrites our diplomacy. It taps the potential of our people, and allows investment in new industry. And it will allow us to compete in this century as successfully as we did in the last. That is why our troop commitment in Afghanistan cannot be open-ended—because the nation that I am most interested in building is our own." Nicely put.

5:31 pm The man can still write a speech. "More than any other nation, the United States of America has underwritten global security for over six decades—a time that, for all its problems, has seen walls come down, markets open, billions lifted from poverty, unparalleled scientific progress, and advancing frontiers of human liberty."

5:32 pm Andrew Sullivan wonders: "Is he choking up? I get a sense that these cadets in front of him are affecting him. He seems different now than before he became president: a commander-in-chief of a different timbre."

5:34 pm He invokes Lincoln directly, mentioning "the men and women in uniform who are part of an unbroken line of sacrifice that has made government of the people, by the people, and for the people a reality on this Earth." Amazing how that phrase still works so well, still has so much light in it.

Find a full transcript here.