Politics

Obama to Hold Afghanistan Strategy Session Tonight

By Kevin Hechtkopf

November 23, 2009 / 10:14 AM EST / CBS News

(AP Photo/White House, Pete Souza)

The White House has announced that President Obama will hold another meeting with his so-called "war council" tonight to discuss the administration's long-awaited decision on strategy and U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan. According to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, this will be the president's ninth such meeting to review Afghanistan and Pakistan policy.

The meeting with the national security team will take place at 8 p.m. ET in the Situation Room of the White House. Below is the list of expected attendees in addition to President Obama, according to the White House:

Vice President Joe Biden
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy
Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James E. Cartwright, USMC, Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
General David Petraeus, U.S. Central Command
General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Commander in Afghanistan (via videoconference)
Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (via videoconference)
Anne Patterson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (via videoconference)
General James Jones, National Security Advisory
Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan

CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan