Excerpt:
President Obama has delayed a decision to deploy more troops to Afghanistan until after he returns to U.S. soil from a trip to Asia that he embarked upon today.
Officials said that in the meeting, the eighth in the Situation Room on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last two months, Mr. Obama pressed for clarifications on a series of questions: Where are the off-ramps for the military? What is the exit strategy? When will Americans and their allies hand responsibility to the Afghanistan government? Can the Afghan government improve its credibility?
According to the Times, a few hours before the war council met on Wednesday, Mr. Obama slowly walked through the rain-soaked grass at Arlington National Cemetery and visited Section 60, where 577 troops from Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. He stopped by the grave of Spec. Ross McGinnis, a Medal of Honor recipient who was killed nearly three years ago when a grenade was thrown into his vehicle in Iraq. The President also spoke with relatives of other troops who were on hand when he passed by.
The Ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eickenberry sent a cable to the White House yesterday strongly objecting to emerging plans to send tens of thousands of additional forces to the country, and has sent multiple classified cables to Washington over the past week that question the wisdom of adding forces when the Afghan political situation is unstable and uncertain.
Eikenberry is not just another envoy. Before resigning his Army commission to take the job as U.S. ambassador in Kabul earlier this year, Gen. Eickenberry served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, the second as head of the Combined Forces Command. After the second Afghan tour, Eikenberry was Chairman of the NATO Joint Military Committee. He is a West Point graduate with advanced degrees from Harvard and Stanford.
All we can hope for is that this is a signal that our Commander in Chief will not be bullied by the Pentagon into making impulsive decisions, that he will carefully weigh the consequences of any decision regarding the deployment of troops, and listen to all of his advisors. An exit strategy, or at least clear military objectives in Afghanistan are what are needed at this point, not just a short-sighted escalation of the war.
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