What rift? Eikenberry, McChrystal take vows of unity
They smiled at each other and publicly said “I do.”
General Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, widely reported to have had a falling-out over sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, on Tuesday pledged their support for President Barack Obama’s strategy and for each other.
The congressional hearing was on the Afghan war, but it had moments that almost seemed borrowed from a wedding ceremony.
“Do you support the president’s plan (for Afghanistan) in each of its elements?” asked Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin.
“I do, Mr. Chairman,” responded Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
Levin turned to General McChrystal, the U.S. battlefield commander. “General, do you fully agree with the July 2011 date which the president directed as the start of reduction of some U.S. forces?”
“Mr. Chairman, I do…” McChrystal said.
Obama: Not worrying about perceptions on Afghanistan
As President Barack Obama nears a decision on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, some experts say he should consider the signal his decision will send about his broader commitment to the war, which has grown increasingly unpopular at home.
The White House has been frustrated that its internal deliberations on the Afghanistan strategy have leaked into public view, something that Obama acknowledged on Monday in an interview with Reuters.
But will perceptions of the deliberations affect the decision itself?
In the view of some, Obama might risk sending a signal of a weakening commitment in Afghanistan were he to approve anything short of the 40,000 troop increase requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Obama says concern about such perceptions won’t be a factor for him.
“That’s not how I think about the problem,” he said in the Oval Office interview. “My obligation — my solemn obligation, as commander-in-chief, is to get this right. And then I worry about people’s perceptions later.”
In a separate interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper, Obama talked at some length about the factors that will influence his decision-making.
From My Viewpoint, America Needs To Pursue Peace Deals With the Taliban.
White House hits back at Cheney “dithering” comment
The White House is firing back at former Vice President Dick Cheney who accused President Barack Obama of “dithering” and being “afraid to make a decision” on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
“I think it’s a curious comment,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at his midday briefing.
“I think it’s pretty safe to say that the Vice President was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan,” Gibbs added.
“Even more curious, given the fact that (an) increase in troops sat on desks in this White House, including the vice president’s, for more than eight months, a resource request filled by President Obama in March,” he said.
Speaking to the Center for Security Policy, a Washington think-tank, Cheney said the White House needed to “stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger.”
“Having announced his Afghanistan strategy last March, President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission,” Cheney said.
General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has recommended a troop increase of 40,000. Obama has been holding a series of policy meetings with his top advisers to review the request and has said he wants to make a thorough review of the strategy before deciding whether to approve more troops.
Obama’s nickname is “MR DITHERS”. The guy is afraid to make a decision for fear he will make the wrong one; thus he has made a decision to do nothing!
The man is well above his abilities to do more than make a nice speech.
Civil air surrounds Afghan war strategy debate at White House
To hear spokesman Robert Gibbs describe it, President Barack Obama’s White House is a mighty civil place to work.
Even when formulating Afghan war strategy, for instance, the president, his generals and his advisers do not argue. Or apparently even forcefully state their views.
This despite their known differences in position, with Afghan war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal seeking up to 40,000 more troops and Vice President Joe Biden wanting to maintain current troop levels while intensifying attacks on al Qaeda.
The president held one of a series of war strategy sessions Wednesday at the White House.
Asked beforehand whether the different advisers were likely to argue their specific points of view, spokesman Robert Gibbs expressed surprise at the suggestion.
“You know, this may not be good TV, but there really weren’t any arguments in the last three-hour meeting,” he told a briefing. “There was a larger discussion of where we are and what we need to do going forward. So I — I can’t predict who’s going to yell at who…”
Sorry for frequent posting. The upcoming election in Afghanistan is not viewed enthusiastically, nor should it be. Iraq and Afghanistan could be solved by a complete Iraq troop withdrawal. Ultimately Mecca religious leaders should represent worldwide Muslims.
How strong is U.S. will for Afghan fight?
When George W. Bush was president, Democrats and other critics repeatedly said the United States was fighting the wrong war — it was not Iraq that should have been the center of U.S. military attention, but Afghanistan.
The thinking then was that Afghanistan was where Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda crew had planned the Sept. 11 attacks under the protection of the Taliban and they were the ones to pursue and attack.
Now that Barack Obama is president, he is trying to wind down the war in Iraq and send more troops to Afghanistan. But it’s been eight years since the Sept. 11 attacks and more than six years since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and Americans are war-weary.
A new CBS News poll found that support is declining for sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, dropping to 25 percent from 39 percent in April. Obama’s approval rating on handling Afghanistan fell eight points to 48 percent from 56 percent in April.
Conservative columnist George Will created a small earthquake with his piece today “Time to Get Out of Afghanistan.” The Atlantic called it a “bombshell.”
Obama is to review a new report from General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, which is sure to fuel the debate inside the administration over whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan.
What do you think should be the next step for the United States on Afghanistan?
thanks reuters ,i lead a very interesting life when i worked under cover for the national union of mine workers in a former life,so i am well informed about all the little “trammels” that are placed in peoples way. perhaps another day with getplaning,thanks for the blog.god bless!
How long will U.S. forces be in Afghanistan? It’s a mystery…
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says it’s no secret how long U.S. forces will be in Afghanistan.
“In the intelligence business, we always used to categorize information … in two ways: secrets and mysteries,” the former CIA boss told a briefing Thursday.
“The secrets were things that were ultimately knowable,” Gates said. “The mysteries were those where there were too many variables to predict.”
Yup, you guessed it. How long U.S. forces will be in Afghanistan falls into the mysteries category.
“I think that we are certainly hoping to see progress within a year, in terms of … the president’s new strategy and General (Stanley) McChrystal’s new strategy and tactics,” Gates said.
The defense secretary said he would like to see the situation moving in the direction seen in Iraq in recent years, with Baghdad able to take more and more responsibility for its own security.
General James Cartwright, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, echoed that thought, saying the situation would be moving in the right direction when Afghan police and army could begin taking on security roles.
What in the world has been going on in Afghanistan for the past 8 years?
What makes anyone think that, other than a lot of people getting killed and maimed, the situation will be any different 8 years from now?
