WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2009
Obama Will Make Up Own Mind on Afghanistan
White House Spokesman Says President Will Make Decision Regardless of Whether It's "Popular or Unpopular"
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Play CBS Video Video History of U.S. & Afghanistan Since 1998, the U.S. has been pressuring the Taliban to hand over al Qaeda leadership. Now, the Taliban resides in 80% of Afghanistan. Katie Couric reflects how the U.S. ended up at war with the Taliban.
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Video Critical Questions for Senators Katie Couric speaks with Senator John Kerry and Senator John McCain about problems with the U.S. Afghan strategy, the limits of U.S. power and what it can accomplish and also what success looks like.
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President Barack Obama holds a strategy review on Afghanistan in the Situation Room of the White House, Sept. 30, 2009. (White House Photo/Pete Souza)
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During a firefight with Taliban militants, a spent shell casing flies through the air as U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Christie, of Washington, Ind. with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines returns fire, in Nawa district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban militants opened fire on the Marine patrol. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
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Special Report Afghanistan The latest news and analysis on the war in Afghanistan and the debate in Washington over its future.
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Photo Essay Photos from Afghanistan Cpl. Jason Bogar's pictures of Afghanistan
The White House said Tuesday that President Barack Obama considers it "tremendously important" to listen to Congress about the flagging war in Afghanistan but will not base his decisions on the mood among lawmakers or eroding American public support for the war.
"The president is going to make a decision - popular or unpopular - based on what he thinks is in the best interests of the country," press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. As for support from lawmakers, Gibbs said Obama is focused on getting his war strategy right, not on "who's for or who's against what."
Obama met at the White House with leaders of key war oversight and appropriations committees from both parties in the House and Senate. The session was part of a review of the war effort in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is expected to last several more weeks.
After the meeting, an administration official said Obama updated the 18 members present on the process of his review, and made it clear that he wants to get their input - and will continue to get their input going forward.
"The president underscored the importance of the decision, and the need to ensure that we have a strategy in place that guides a decision on resources. Given the importance of the policy to our security - and to our troops - the president said that he will be rigorous and deliberate, while moving forward with a sense of urgency," the official said.
The official added: "The president was clear that he will make the decision that he thinks will best prevent future attacks on the American homeland and our allies. He also made it clear that his decision won't make everybody in the room or the nation happy, but underscored his commitment to work on a collaborative basis with the understanding that everyone wants what is best for the country."
A core question is whether Obama will widen the war again after adding 21,000 U.S. troops earlier this year. The top three U.S. military officials overseeing the war favor continuing the fight against an emboldened Taliban and have concluded they need tens of thousands more U.S. troops beyond the 68,000 already there.
Yesterday, Obama's top defense and diplomacy advisers said the United States retains the Afghanistan war goal that Obama outlined just two months into his presidency - to sideline al Qaeda - but changing circumstances require a reassessment of how to get there.
A "snap decision" on whether to add more U.S troops would be counterproductive, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday.
Whatever the president decides, the military will salute, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
"It's important that at the end of the day that the president makes a decision that he believes in," Clinton added.
The question of whether to further escalate the conflict after adding 21,000 U.S. troops earlier this year is a major decision facing Obama and senior administration policy advisers this week.
Obama also will meet twice this week with his national security team.
Divided on Afghanistan, Congress takes up a massive defense spending bill this week even before the president settles on a direction for the war.
Republican Sen. John McCain, Obama's opponent in last year's presidential election and one of the lawmakers expected at Tuesday's meeting, said he thinks it's critical that the administration avoid thinking of the insurgent Taliban and the al Qaeda terrorist network as separate issues.
Marines in Afghanistan: A Day in the Life
Taliban Gaining Firepower and Confidence
Battle of Wanat - Inside the Ambush
"If the Taliban returns, they will work with al Qaeda," he said on NBC television Tuesday morning. "It's just a historical fact. You can't separate the two. ... I strongly disagree with those who allege those are separate problems. They have worked together in the past and they will work together in the future."
Gates appealed Monday for calm amid the intense administration debate over the flagging war, and for time and privacy for the president to come to a decision. Gates' remarks stood as an implicit rebuke of the man he
In two separate appearances Monday, Gates made the point that Obama needs elbow room to make strategy decisions about the war - as the internal White House debate goes increasingly public.
"It is important that we take our time to do all we can to get this right," Gates said at an Army conference. "In this process, it is imperative that all of us taking part in these deliberations civilians and military alike - provide our best advice to the president candidly but privately."
Later, speaking alongside Clinton in an interview taped for CNN, Gates praised McChrystal and said no matter what Obama decides the general will execute it faithfully.
Gates has not said whether he supports McChrystal's recommendation to expand the number of U.S. forces by as much as nearly 60 percent. He is holding that request in his desk drawer while Obama sorts through competing recommendations and theories from some of his most trusted advisers.
Coming up on the "CBS Evening News": Afghanistan: The Road Ahead, an in-depth examination of the escalating conflict, airing this week at 6:30 p.m. ET.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan
During the CNN session, Gates said, "Because of our inability and the inability, frankly, of our allies to put enough troops in Afghanistan, the Taliban do have the momentum right now."
The fierce Taliban attack that killed eight American soldiers over the weekend added to the pressure. The assault overwhelmed a remote U.S. outpost where American forces have been stretched thin in battling insurgents, underscoring the appeal from the top Afghanistan commander for as many as 40,000 additional forces - and at the same time reminding the nation of the costs of war.
In trying to blunt the impression that the White House and military are at odds, Gates did not name names. But his remarks came days after McChrystal bluntly warned in London that Afghan insurgents are gathering strength. Any plan that falls short of stabilizing Afghanistan "is probably a shortsighted strategy," the general said, and he called openly for additional resources.
That prompted Obama's national security adviser, retired four-star Gen. James Jones, to say Sunday that military advice is best provided "up through the chain of command."
Obama may take weeks to decide whether to add more troops, but the idea of pulling out isn't on the table as a way to deal with a war nearing its ninth year, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
"I don't think we have the option to leave. That's quite clear," Gibbs said.
At issue is whether U.S. forces should continue to focus on fighting the Taliban and securing the Afghan population or shift to more narrowly targeting, with unmanned spy drones and covert operations, al Qaeda terrorists believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
Gates and some other advisers appear to favor a middle path. A hybrid strategy could preserve the essential outline of an Afghan counterinsurgency campaign that McChrystal rebuilt this summer from the disarray of nearly eight years of undermanned combat, while expanding the hunt for al Qaeda next door.
The top three U.S. military officials overseeing the war in Afghanistan favor continuing the current fight against the Taliban, and have concluded they need tens of thousands more U.S. troops beyond the 68,000 already there.
Officials across the Obama administration have acknowledged that the Taliban is far stronger now than in recent years, as underscored by the U.S. deaths in Nuristan province.
The fighting Saturday marked the biggest loss of U.S. life in a single Afghan battle in more than a year. It also raised questions about why U.S. troops remained in the remote outposts after McChrystal said he planned to close down isolated strongholds and focus on more heavily populated areas as part of his new strategy to focus on protecting Afghan civilians.
Here's a list of senators and representatives invited to the White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan:
Senate:
Sen. Harry Reid, Majority Leader, D-Nev.
Sen. Dick Durbin, Majority Whip, D-Ill.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republican Leader, R-Ky.
Sen. Jon Kyl, Republican Whip, R-Ariz.
Sen. Carl Levin, Armed Services Chairman, D-Mich.
Sen. John McCain, Armed Services Ranking Member, R-Ariz.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, Appropriations Chairman and Defense Subcommittee Chairman, D-Hawaii
Sen. Thad Cochran, Appropriations Ranking Member and Defense Subcommittee Ranking, R-Miss.
Sen. John Kerry, Foreign Affairs Chairman, D-Mass.
Sen. Richard Lugar, Foreign Affairs Ranking Member, R-Ind.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Foreign Operations Appropriations Chairman, D-Vt.
Sen. Judd Gregg, Foreign Operations Appropriations Ranking Member, R-N.H.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Intelligence Committee Chair, D-Calif.
Sen. Kit Bond, Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, R-Mo.
House:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader, D-Md.
Rep. John Boehner, Republican Leader, R-Ohio
Rep. James Clyburn, Majority Whip, D-S.C.
Rep. Eric Cantor, Republican Whip, R-Va.
Rep. Ike Skelton, Armed Services Chairman, D-Mo.
Rep. Howard McKeon, Armed Services Ranking Member, R-Calif.
Rep. Howard Berman, Foreign Affairs Chairman, D-Calif.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Foreign Affairs Ranking Member, R-Fla.
Rep. David Obey, Appropriations Chairman, D-Wis.
Rep. Jerry Lewis, Appropriations Ranking Member, R-Calif.
Rep. Nita Lowey, Foreign Operations Appropriations Chairman, D-N.Y.
Rep. Kay Granger, Foreign Operations Appropriations Ranking Member, R-Texas
Rep. John Murtha, Appropriations, Defense Subcommittee Chairman, D-Pa.
Rep. Bill Young, Appropriations, Defense Subcommittee Ranking Member, R-Fla.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Intelligence Committee Chairman, D-Texas
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, R-Mich.
©MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Add a Comment See all 69 Comments
- by alien_view October 7, 2009 9:58 AM EDT
by pepperwood2 October 7, 2009 9:59 AM EDT
Trolls.
No logical response, no legitimate complaints, no proposed solutions....
Just the typical mindless Fox News rhetoric.
Good luck going through life like that. - Reply to this comment
- Boy are our troops screwed! Obama wants to wait how many weeks before making a decision and how many weeks does it take to get men in the field and their supplies. I hope all of you idiots are seeing Obama for what he is. How many more lives are going to be lost while he consults his wegi-board and crystal ball before helping our troops out. This man is an ANTI-MILITARY Marxist who like Lincoln wants to be the Liberal pro-islamic Dictator of the United States and it will be HIS will that is to be done...not what the American peoples will. Obama will have to keep some troops here in the US to be able to enforce his will upon the American masses.
- Reply to this comment
- 7,100,000 = American jobs lost in the past 18 months.
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$500,000 = The cost of keeping one American troop in Afghanistan or Iraq for 12 months.
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$11,900,000,000,000 = National Debt of the United States
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$420,000,000,000 = Annual interest accrued on the national debt
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6 = Number of unemployed workers per 2009 job opening in America
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21 = Average age of Army recruits
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52.2% = Unemployment rate for 21-year old Americans
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- From all that I know understand to be true, I'm really grateful that Obama is our President. I believe that he is one of the most mature Presidents we ever had. I am encouraged that he is seeking the collective conscience of all of the American people. He certainly doesn't need to have extgremists trying to push the issue in their direction. They need to say what they have to say and then shut their mouths. May God Bless you, President Obama.
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- Obama doesn't have enough of a mind to make a decision this big. Similar to the kind of mind that got us into Iraq.
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- by nextgenman09 October 7, 2009 9:02 AM EDT
Translation: I'm running away because I can't admit that my conservatard party caused all of this mess.
Exactly.
And the amazing thing is that he ACTUALLY believes that the best thing that can happen is to get the conservatives back in control.
It's like he's been in a coma for the last 8 years. - Reply to this comment
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- They've all been in a Coma od Denial for 8 years! They dance with glee when they think there's success but slink away and blame everybody else for their failures when it turns sour. They act like this is some sort of contest between the Dems and the Repubs!! They don't care if America fails, as long as they think they've won some contest!!
Its a mass psychosis, and its only from a small sector of the population. The Limbaugh Freaks, the Mann Coultertards, the Glenn Beck Worshiper Nutbags....
Its embarrassing....
- They've all been in a Coma od Denial for 8 years! They dance with glee when they think there's success but slink away and blame everybody else for their failures when it turns sour. They act like this is some sort of contest between the Dems and the Repubs!! They don't care if America fails, as long as they think they've won some contest!!
- by guyfrompa2009 October 7, 2009 8:54 AM EDT
nobody is forgetting. But you like to make it like things are better. They're not. Both parties are idiots. You want change? get them both out and start over.
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Translation: Now I want to try to spread the blame to everybody so I don't have to admit how my conservatard party caused ALL of this mess. - Reply to this comment
- by guyfrompa2009 October 7, 2009 8:54 AM EDT
nobody is forgetting. But you like to make it like things are better. They're not. Both parties are idiots. You want change? get them both out and start over.
You're not whining and crying about both parties - you're only crying about the Obama administration, even though it's the conservatives that tried to destroy America.
The LAST thing that America needs, is to let you morons have control of ANYTHING ever again.
You idiots shouldn't be allowed to run the local highway department, much less anything important. - Reply to this comment
- Ah the Hoot Bumpkin Conservatards. They were all dancing in the streets when Georgy Pordgey Bush hung his "Mission Accomplished!" banner on the deck of that aircraft carrier, they were all dancing with glee shouting "we succeeded!" But after 8 years of failure in Iraq, failure in Afghanistan and failure on the economy, the "conservatives" want to blame everybody but themselves.
And they get mad when anybody brings up that Bush caused all of this!
Embarrassingly hilarious. - Reply to this comment
- by guyfrompa2009 October 7, 2009 8:40 AM EDT
yea let's see him make an actual decision instead of worrying about the God Damn olympics, you twit.
Keep crying loser.
You conservatives ran this country into the ground with ALL of your failed policies, and now you want control back so that you can finish destroying America?
It's never going to happen. Now sit back and let an ACTUAL president run the country for a while. - Reply to this comment
- After 8 years of conservative failure, once again, a Democrat will have to fix America's Problems.
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- by guyfrompa2009 October 7, 2009 8:27 AM EDT
Listen you moron, This is now. Maybe Obama should sit back and do nothing like he has so far. You can lay blame anywhere you want but the fact is we are in a war whether you think it's right or not. So we can have our soldiers be sitting ducks or something can be done. You're so ignorant that you don't even take the time to look at the whole picture. Do us a favor and shut the F up. What a clown.
Do nothing like he has so far?
He asked his GENERALS ON THE GROUND for their opinion, he ran it past his security council, and now he's discussing his next options with the "other side of the aisle" to get their opinions and ideas on the matter.
He's looking for solutions from all sides, he's getting as much information from as many experienced people as possible, and he's going to make his decision based on those opinions.
That is a THOUSAND TIMES more than your beloved conservatives did the WHOLE TIME the war was going on: "I'm a war time president. I don't have to listen to any opinions. I'm the decider."
And I'm not laying blame - I'm pointing out FACTS:
You idiot conservatives started the war, you abandoned the war, you ignored the war, and the plan was to just ride out the whole 8 years, and dump the problem on the next guy.
Your guys won. They got their way -- the next guy is stuck with the problem, and he has to figure out a solution to this quagmire. So SHUT THE F*** UP, and let him do the job that you conservatives REFUSED to do, and solve the problems that YOU created and abandoned. - Reply to this comment
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- Hungry, America reralized what dis\mal failure the fake conservative were and booted them to the curb. That's whay has guyPa so angry. He finally had to admit the President Cheney was a dismal failure.
- by guyfrompa2009 October 7, 2009 8:09 AM EDT
Oh and Thisa coming from a Genius who's only concern is with himself.. I'll ignore you now. You're not worth the effort.
You'll ignore me because you know that I'm 100% right, and you have NOTHING to counter the truth:
Bush started the war, abandoned it, ignored it, and did nothing about it, in the hopes that he could ride out his term and dump the problems on the next guy.
"Mission Accomplished".
Eight years this war has lasted, and NOTHING in the strategy has changed in that entire time, because the focus was on the OTHER fabricated and unnecessary war.
And now you think that the best thing that can happen is for Obama's term to end, "us liberals to open our eyes", and let you conservatives take the reins again?!?!
You've GOT to be kidding. - Reply to this comment
- by guyfrompa2009 October 7, 2009 7:26 AM EDT
There are 2 choices here not 3 or 4.. Pullout or go full tilt. He needs to hurry up and decide. He's says he will not pullout, ok then what is he waiting for? He's worse than Bush, Johnson and jsut about tied with Carter for the worst president ever.
How do you know what the choices are?
Your a conservative, there's only one choice for you idiots:
Start wars without exit strategies, don't look for ANY way out of the wars that were fabricated, and plan on running out your term and leaving the mess for the next guy to deal with. - Reply to this comment
- by guyfrompa2009 October 7, 2009 7:22 AM EDT
reality is finallt setting in for this clown. Not so easy when you have to actually make the decisions and not just make campaign promises. Now if you liberals will open your eyes maybe we can get something done.
If us liberals open our eyes, maybe we can get something done.
Hmmmm, let's reminisce....
You clowns (aka conservatives) had TOTAL CONTROL of Washington for 6 years. Our eyes were wide open and our mouths were agape, staring in disbelief at the direction that you morons took this country.
You got something done alright -- two wars fabricated, an economy destroyed, the manufacturing sector - the backbone of any economy - moved "offshore", one terrorist attack ALLOWED to happen because the intelligence was ignored, the national deficit DOUBLED with NOTHING to show for it.....
Yeah, you got "something done" alright. And it almost destroyed the country in the process. - Reply to this comment
- Obama is not qualified to decide because he knows nothing. It is a sad situation when important decisions are left to somebody as unqualified as Obama.
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- That is what I respect about President Obama. He will do what he truly believes is best for the nation, and he will do it after due consideration of all sides. There is no simple answer to Afghanistan. The horse is out of the barn. The time to have really won this war was back right after 9/11 when GWB and the gang rushed off to Iraq instead.
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- The Economy is our Numero Uno target now. It got to be so. With 9% unemployment, we're not in a great position to invade others' land. And for what do we do that? Who is profiting of all these funds spending? How does economy benefit from abroad invasions???
Barack's priorities need to be oriented within the homeland. We have nothing to benefit from our troops being out there. Nothing but death and desolation for invaded locals and for our troops, a rejoycement for the GOPs.
Barack needs to pull our troops out. Let the Muslim countries stabilize within themselves, fight until they find a common sens equilibrium between the extremists and the moderates. Once they, stabilize and mature we can negotiate with them and get somewhere together... They happen to be the stiffest but closest allies against other potential invaders eyeing the middle-east underground wealth and unlimited resources.
Our foreign policies based on invasion, political division are quite pathetic. It creates instability within those countries. Let the self understanding Muslim countries get together (favor their meeting and political union under a federation-like or something they would like to call Nation or so...). An initiative of this nature is beneficial for our Nation nd for stability, because it makes their Nations and peoples feel responsible with inherent and consequent behavior. Take for example the European Union, integrating some of the (usually rogue Nations). They now feel more responsible and behave accordingly.
Arab Nations and other Muslim Nations may be surprisingly positive about such a target... their peoples are aiming at that. So let America do the Job, favor this trend and harvest the good results, before it's done by others (Iran) getting to sit on the highest chair.
America needs to change its foreign policies toward the Arab/Muslim nations. They showed a lot more inclined to maturity, collaboration than what our dear ZioGOPs lied us, about them.
Barack promised such move to the Arabs/Muslim and he got to deliver fast, before they fall into the Russian, Chinese, or Indian Hands. Be in a more even position, leave this double standard policy in their conflict with Israel. We need to do that fast, now. - Reply to this comment
- The Obama haters are in their usual oxycontin induced fantasy.
Every general blames GW Bush for the Afghan mess for invading Iraq.
Don't worry, President Obama will straighten Bush's mess out as best anyone can. - Reply to this comment
- Obama will make his own decision - impossible. He doesn't have an original thought in his head unless someone tells him what to say. It is so obvious while he dithers around. He has so eclipsed Jimmy Carter for being ineffectual Bar-Oby does not have to worry about his legacy, he's definitely already establishing one - he 90% smoke and 10% horsepower, he reads speeches well.
Someone hurry and call George Soros, Rev Wright, Saul Alinsky (from the grave), David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel to see what Obama should do. - Reply to this comment
