WASHINGTON — The Afghanistan war reached its eighth anniversary Wednesday as President Barack Obama, seeking a revamped strategy for the increasingly unpopular conflict, focused more closely with his war council on neighboring Pakistan’s role in the fight against al-Qaeda.
The White House also revealed that Obama has had in hand for nearly a week the troop request prepared by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It is said to include a range of options, from adding as few as 10,000 additional combat troops to as many as 40,000, which is McChrystal’s strong preference.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama asked for McChrystal’s request last Thursday, before he flew to Copenhagen where he lobbied for Chicago’s bid to host the Olympics and met with the general on the sidelines. The numbers could become the focus of concentrated White House attention as soon as Friday, Gibbs said.
Scattered and weakened
When former President George W. Bush launched the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan less than a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the country’s Taliban government was providing safe haven for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorists. Eight years later, the Taliban regime is no more and al-Qaeda is scattered and weakened. But the Afghan government is considered corrupt and ineffective, Taliban insurgents hoping to retake control are gaining strength and terrorists continue to plan attacks. This uncertain progress has come at a cost of nearly 800 U.S. lives.
With this and Americans’ dwindling patience in mind, Obama is engaged in a methodical review of how to overhaul the war.
Wednesday’s nearly three- hour meeting in the Situation Room between Obama and more than a dozen of his top advisers on the war was the third of five currently scheduled. The next is Friday, concentrating on Afghanistan — though it could also include McChrystal’s report. The final discussion is slated for next week, though aides have said more could come.
Gibbs said Obama’s decision is still weeks away.
Wednesday’s White House meeting began with intelligence and political assessments from key players. The ensuing discussion focused on possible ways to gain additional help from Pakistan, said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal details. That includes efforts on diplomatic and civilian fronts, as well as military.
Deny them safe haven
McChrystal’s recommended approach calls for additional troops in Afghanistan for a counterinsurgency campaign to defeat the Taliban, build up the central government and deny al-Qaeda safe haven.
On roughly the opposite end of the spectrum, an alternative favored most prominently by Vice President Joe Biden would keep the American force in Afghanistan at around the 68,000 already authorized, including the 21,000 more troops Obama ordered earlier this year, but increase the use of surgical strikes with Predator drones and special forces.
Shrinking the number of troops in Afghanistan and turning the effort into a narrow counterterror campaign is not on the table, and neither is drastically ballooning the footprint.
In giving McChrystal’s request to Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates bypassed the commander’s direct bosses in the military chain of command who would ordinarily have a chance to add their own comments first.
Pakistan
