Obama: ‘No Immediate Decision’ On Troop Increase In Afghanistan

President Barack Obama
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Taking questions with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today, President Obama said there is “no immediate decision pending” on troop increases for the war in Afghanistan. He emphasized that such decisions won’t come until he determines a strategy.

“We have lacked as clear of a strategy and a mission as is necessary in order to meet our overriding objective, which is to dismantle and disrupt and destroy al-Qadea,” Obama said. He intends to get that strategy right, he said.

“There is no immediate decision pending on resources, because one of the things I’m absolutely clear about is, you have to get the strategy right and then make determinations about resources,” he said. “Certainly you don’t make determinations about sending young men and women into battle without have absolute clarity about what the strategy is gonna be.”

Obama added that he made decisions about troop increases right after taking office in order to make sure Afghanistan could peacefully hold presidential elections, which took place last month. Now, he said, he needs to collaborate with U.S. allies and make assessments from the civilian, diplomatic and development perspectives before he forms a strategy.

“I was crystal clear at the time that, post-election, we were gonna have to do an additional assessment,” he said. “I’m going to take a very deliberate process in making those decisions.”

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is expected to make a request for more troops in the near future. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has also called for more troops.

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