Obama, McChrystal Chat on Air Force One

(CBS/ AP)  President Barack Obama summoned his top commander in Afghanistan to a 25-minute meeting aboard Air Force One before returning to Washington.

The president and Gen. Stanley McChrystal discussed U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, CBS News correspondent Peter Maer reports.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Mr. Obama invited McChrystal to meet him Friday in the Danish capital, where the U.S. president was talking to the International Olympic Committee about a bid to hold the games in Chicago.

In a speech Thursday in London, McChrystal said conventional tactics, including the focus on force protection, has prevented Western troops from convincing Afghans that the U.S.-led coalition forces are on their side and are committed for the long haul. He said the military must change the way it operates or face defeat.

"At the end of the day we don't win by destroying the Taliban," he said at the prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. "We don't win by body count. We don't win by the number of successful military raids or attacks. We win when the people decide we win."

CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan

The blunt four-star general has made waves in Washington and London with his downbeat assessment of the eight-year effort to keep Afghanistan from becoming - again - a safe haven for Taliban extremists and their al Qaeda allies, who used it as a base while planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

With the support of top Pentagon officials, McChrystal is seeking a substantial number of additional troops for the war effort. He said Thursday that more troops would "buy time" as Afghan military and police forces are improved with an eye toward taking control of security by 2013.

But it is not clear if Mr. Obama backs this plan. He has begun a series of at least five top-level meetings to review all policy options, including those recommended by McChrystal. There are signs of a split among Obama's top advisers, with some concerned about plummeting public support for a prolonged conflict.

McChrystal said the war is vital because there is a "huge risk" that the Taliban insurgency could again make the country safe for al Qaeda's leadership.

"We went there to destroy al Qaeda, and to a great degree that has happened," he said. "Now we are preventing its return."

[ilovebeeswarzone]

done

[ilovebeeswarzone]

thank you.aboutwe dont winfocusing....it is not why we dont win,bodys count of our ennemys matter posivly to the world,but body count of our owns because of roadside bombs is negative to winning,we will win when we decide to win beeing positive help to go win.

[eagle0907]

Considering Biden?s anti-war rhetoric and the White House sitting on its proverbial thumbs and letting D.C. hacks who have no business providing tactical input to the President continue their diatribe, we need an abrupt right turn, and tactical stop. Meaning, that if the White House and it?s left leaning advisors don?t want to take the advise they asked for from a thoroughly professional and field trained General and don?t care to take the tactical advise of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then lets bring ?ALL? our troops home period. No more funding from this taxpayer for military adventurism designed by nincompoops and idiots in Washington who won?t let our Generals (from the worlds best armed forces) run and win any war the politicians design. This President is moving towards the same tactics as did Lyndon Johnson during Vietnam. Second guessing the Generals in the field and running missions from the White House. For the sake of this General and the troops, remove McChrystal from the pipeline, thumb-down the Joint Chiefs of Staff, bring the troops home and let Afganistan and the others fend for themselves. History has continuously shown that when you ask your best generals for their professional opinion while operating from a swank office in D.C. and then refuse to accept the facts while spinning the facts to suit your own agenda, then America loses time and time again. No more young American lives should be lost due to incompetence in the leadership of this country.

[sjc_1]

I am not a McChrystal fan. After seeing him on 60 Minutes, he gave me the impression of someone urging everyone to do better, but no solutions on how to make that happen.

[maxcoffee-2009]

Why wouldn't any american support getting the olypimcs to be hosted in America?
The President will only be there for one day. Between flights The President can have meetings about Afghanitan.
He is trying to bring the olypincs to America, fight the war on terror, help Americans get good health care, and fix the economy...
And people just want to tear him down.
Americans that want America to fail...

[cg37102006]

We have been in Afghanistan for 8 years now? Iraq for 6 and 1/2 years ? What has all this warfighting gotten us? Are we safer? I dont know. War sucks, man.

[pickaguitar1]

YES WE CAN!

[spaceatoms]

Maybe they shared a beer and sports stories also, its not 1958 anymore and the burger shop is now open.

[stuart-johns1]

I see a pattern developing here. If the Taliban really want to strap America, all they need to do is keep moving into a number of different countries that are unable to defend themselves.

They know America with its idiotic nation building policies will eventually go broke defending these countries against the Taliban insurgencies. And the Taliban know this will create hugh dissent in America between the republican extremists war lovers and those who want to pursue our Constitutional right to liberty, peace and the pursuit of happiness.

Perhaps the republicans are in on the deal. Afterall, they have been trying to destroy Obama and America since they lost power last January.

But anyway, why can't we define our mission to simply training these people to fight against and protect themselves from the Taliban advances? That would require less troops and less money.

I don't believe America nor anyone will wholly wipe out the Taliban. We will be chasing them around the globe for decades more if we do not change our strategy against them. And where is the rest of the world in this??

[eagle0907]

We tried the training aspect in Vietnam and we know how that ended. Lots of tragedy to go around