Eight years after the United States first sent troops to Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Obama is wrestling with the right strategy – pulled in one direction by military brass, wanting to win the war but cognizant of increasing casualties, and warned by antiwar liberals who fear a prolonged conflict like Vietnam to make sure he has an exit strategy.
There are 68,000 troops there already, thanks in part to the change in strategy Obama announced in March. He said then he wanted to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat” al Qaeda and nearly doubled the troops deployed to the region as he started to implement a drawdown in Iraq. That was following up on a campaign promise since the president has said Afghanistan is the “war we need to win.”
Sources interviewed about the president’s thinking and strategy said Obama wants to make sure it’s a deliberative process since there is so much on the line. They said it hasn’t been easy signing letters to families of troops killed abroad and he wants to avoid mistakes made by the Bush administration.
Obama wants everyone to feel invested in the decision and comfortable with the process, and wants every option and his range of possibilities to be debated within his close circle. Vice President Biden is helping the president by speaking his mind but also playing devil’s advocate for positions he doesn’t necessarily support himself. (He warned before they took office there would be an “uptick” in casualties.)
Sources said the president is spending most of his time listening and anticipate several more meetings before he makes a final decision.
Obama wants to make sure “that this was as grown up and serious and sober a decision making process as it could be and as it should be,” a senior administration official told TPMDC.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who Obama picked for the job, wants 40,000 more troops for Afghanistan and has mounted somewhat of a PR offensive in an attempt to sell the idea, earning him a rebuke from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others.
The report leaked early and Republicans started pushing Obama to make his decision known.
The White House is keeping the strategy close to the vest, but a source familiar with some of the White House deliberations said Gen. McChrystal is lined up against Biden, National Security Adviser Jim Jones and Obama, who is conflicted on whether to pursue a counterterrorism or counterinsurgency strategy.
Administration officials said Obama stressed Tuesday in the meeting with Congressional leaders he was not considering a troop reduction and challenged lawmakers not to put up a “straw man” argument portraying the deliberations about “doubling down or leaving Afghanistan.” People familiar with Tuesday’s meeting said it was both serious and somber.
Officials batted down suggestions that have appeared in news stories that Biden prefers a strategy of using drones and air strikes.
Several White House sources said if there are leaks as to where the president is leaning on the issue, they are wrong, since Obama hasn’t told anyone as he considers the positions of all the key players.
Meanwhile, the ramped up antiwar movement isn’t helping. Aides said Obama hasn’t paid attention to the increased protests outside the White House front gate (with Cindy Sheehan promising to move to Washington to keep the pressure on) or to the MoveOn petition circulating asking him for a clear military exit strategy.
Yesterday protesters held signs at the White House reading, “Is Afghanistan the graveyard of a potentially great presidency?”
Though Obama is consulting a wide range of voices in “military, civilian, diplomatic and
Congressional” circles, the White House said, he has not specifically met with antiwar voices outside of those in Congress who have made their sentiments known.
Iraq veteran Jon Soltz of VoteVets said members of Congress have been calling the left-leaning group to find out his position because people are looking to see where the president is going to be politically. He’s told them to be patient, but said timing is important.
“Everyone’s waiting,” Soltz told TPMDC. “It needs to happen quick.”
A White House aide said Obama understands that but feels “the urgency is to make the right decision, not just a decision.”
There is a general sense of unease with some progressives, who pointed out that in two major cases so far during his presidency – whether to publish torture photos and whether to halt Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell dismissals – Obama has sided with the generals instead of with liberal Democrats.
Today at 3 p.m. he’ll huddle in the Situation Room with top advisers focused on Pakistan, which Obama believes must be intertwined with Afghanistan policy.
The White House said the expected attendees are Biden, Gates, Jones, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Rep. Susan Rice, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, Gen. David Petraeus, Director of National Intelligence Adm. Dennis Blair, CIA Director Leon Panetta, Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, special assistant to Obama for Afghanistan and Pakistan and John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security.
McChrystal and the ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan will participate through videoconference.
Today’s meeting on Pakistan will be followed by another one on Afghanistan Friday and at least one more before Obama makes the decision.
Jones met with 63 senators last week.
A new Quinnipiac University poll showed 65 percent of 2,630 American voters think it’s worth potential troops losses to eliminate threats from terrorists operating in Afghanistan, but only 38 percent support sending more troops while 28 percent want a reduction and 21 percent want the number of troops to remain the same.
It showed most voters trust Obama to make the right decision, 55-38 percent. The poll also showed 30 percent of voters are willing to have large numbers of American troops in Afghanistan “as long as it takes.”
The White House also flagged a new survey showing the U.S. has risen from the seventh most admired country to the No. 1 global image. The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index put the U.S. at the top of 50 countries in 2009, and the pollster attributes the shift to Obama’s election.
