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Afghan Decision "Coming In Weeks"

hypocritexposer

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Obama Holds Fifth Strategy Session; Says Afghan Decision "Coming In Weeks"

October 14, 2009 9:41 a.m. EST

Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7016688089?Obama%20Holds%20Fifth%20Strategy%20Session;%20Says%20Afghan%20Decision%20#ixzz0TvY5PY8R



Kris Alingod - AHN Contributor

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President Barack Obama meets with his national security council on Wednesday, hosting the fifth of a series of top-level discussions on how to move forward in Afghanistan, an eight-year war that officials have warned may soon fail without the proper action. The meeting comes amid criticisms that the decision on troop levels is taking too long, and a day after the White House denied sending an unannounced 13,000 additional troops.

Obama hosts the strategy session in the Situation Room of the White House. Joining him are Defense Sec. Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, Gen. David Petraeus of the U.S. Central Command, National Intelligence Director Adm. Dennis Blair and CIA Director Leon Panetta.

Vice President Joe Biden and National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones are attending as is Richard Holbrooke, the administration's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

NATO and U.S. commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan will participate via videoconference.

There are currently 68,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan, about 38,000 of which are in NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

The number includes the 21,000 troops announced by Obama in March, when he outlined a new strategy that included training and increasing the size of the Afghan Army to 134,000 and the local police force to 82,000 by 2011.

McChrystal in August submitted his strategic assessment of the war, saying the engagement is in serious jeopardy unless changes are made in 12 months, such as sending more troops to stem the growing Taliban insurgency. He is said to have asked for 40,000 additional troops in his confidential assessment, excerpts of which have been leaked.

But some Democrats, such as Vice President Joe Biden, have called for keeping troops at current levels and using more drone and missile attacks, while others have called for a timetable for withdrawing troops. Conservatives, meanwhile, have criticized the President for delaying his decision to accept McChrystal's recommendation.

Obama has said he will take a "deliberate process" in determining the next steps for the Afghan war, and that no decisions on resources will be made without "absolute clarity" on the strategy.

The Washington Post on Tuesday said the administration has made an "unannounced" deployment of 13,000 troops. The White House, however, called the report "inaccurate."

"The additional troop levels that are mentioned in that article are simply approvals by the previous administration for increases that were not filled by the time they left," Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a briefing. "They had been previously authorized."

The same day, the President said the plan in Afghanistan would be announced soon.

"We are going through a very deliberate process that is completely consistent with what I said back in March," Obama told reporters at the White House. "At the time, I said we were going to deploy additional troops in order to secure the [Afghan] election. After the election I said it was important for us to reassess the situation on the ground, and that's what we're doing not just on the military side but also on the civilian side."

"Our principal goal remains to root out al Qaeda and its extremist allies," he added."We are also interested in stability in the region, and that includes not only Afghanistan, but also Pakistan... The military security that's provided in our ability to train Afghan forces is one element of it. Another element of it is making sure that we are doing a good job in helping build capacity on the civilian side -- in areas like agriculture and education... we will have a completion of this current process in the coming weeks."

This year is turning out to be the most tragic for Americans troops in Afghanistan, where violence has risen about 60 percent from last year. The nation also held its first presidential and provincial elections in three decades on Aug. 20, amid heightened Taliban attacks aimed at intimidating voters.

Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7016688089?Obama%20Holds%20Fifth%20Strategy%20Session;%20Says%20Afghan%20Decision%20#ixzz0TvXo1FCf
 
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