Here is President Obama's strategy on the rapid deployment of U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Do you agree with the President's decision?

The Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Remarks of President Barack Obama -- As Prepared for Delivery
United States Military Academy at West Point
December 1, 2009

Good evening. To the United States Corps of Cadets, to the men and women of our armed services, and to my fellow Americans: I want to speak to you tonight about our effort in Afghanistan – the nature of our commitment there, the scope of our interests, and the strategy that my Administration will pursue to bring this war to a successful conclusion. It is an honor for me to do so here – at West Point – where so many men and women have prepared to stand up for our security, and to represent what is finest about our country.

To address these issues, it is important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. 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. They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith or race or station. Were it not for the heroic actions of the passengers on board one of those flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.

Today is December1, World AIDS Day. It's estimated that 33 million people are living with AIDS. Some have not been tested and don't know know they are infected while others, especially in developing countries, don't have access to life-saving treatment.

Far too many people around the world are still dying from HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS can be treated and prevented. Know your HIV/AIDS status. Get tested.

From Avert.org:

HIV is a virus that damages human immune cells. It weakens the immune system and, without treatment, leads most infected people to develop AIDS.

HIV is found in blood and other body fluids such as semen and vaginal fluids. It cannot live for long outside the body, so to be infected with HIV you need to allow some body fluid from an infected person to get inside your body. The virus can enter the body via contact with the bloodstream or by passing through delicate mucous membranes, such as inside the vagina, rectum or urethra.

The most common ways that people become infected with HIV are:

• having sexual intercourse with an infected partner.
• injecting drugs using a needle or syringe that has been used by someone who is infected.
• as a baby of an infected mother, during pregnancy, labour or delivery, or through breastfeeding.

Treatment costs around 40 cents a day.

The results are nothing short of miraculous.

Someone on death's door can be brought back to life. In as little as 90 days.

This transformation is called the Lazarus Effect.

A new documentary called The Lazarus Effect, will be coming this Spring to HBO. Click here to find out more.

Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2009 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children. During 2008 some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.

The vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower- and middle-income countries. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.