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Obama, Security Team Meet as Afghan Decision Nears

By Roger Runningen

 Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama met with his top national security advisers today to discuss four options for strategy in Afghanistan as he draws closer to deciding whether to commit more U.S. troops to the war.

The president hasn’t made a final decision on the deployment and believes the U.S. needs to make clear to the Afghan government that the commitment to it isn’t open ended, said an administration official, who issued a statement on condition of anonymity.

After years of investments by the U.S., Afghan officials must improve their nation’s governance within a reasonable period of time, the official said.

The president met for more than two hours with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, General David Petraeus, who commands U.S. forces in the Middle East and Asia, Richard Holbrooke, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and others, spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

General Stanley McChrystal, who commands U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, joined by teleconference from that country. He wants to add as many as 40,000 troops to a U.S. force there that’s scheduled to number 68,000 by the end of the year, including 21,000 that Obama authorized earlier this year.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about the additional resourcing” as well as “a refinement of objectives,” Petraeus said on CNN before the meeting. “We will discuss that again today. I think that we are indeed nearing a decision.”

Eighth Meeting

Today’s meeting is Obama’s eighth with his national security team on the Afghan decision. Vietor said he didn’t know if it would be the last.

“The president is doing this in a very purposeful and deliberate way,” spokesman Robert Gibbs said. A decision may come after Obama returns Nov. 19 from an eight-day, four-nation visit to Asia, he said.

Once a decision is made, the president “will take the time to explain” it to the American people, Gibbs said. That could come in a nationally televised address, a speech to the military or some other forum.

Republican Letter

Ten Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, including John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, sent Obama a letter today asking him to “fully support General McChrystal’s call for additional resources and troops.”

“On this Veterans’ Day, young Americans are fighting in Afghanistan in what General McChrystal describes as a situation headed toward defeat unless we act while we still have the opportunity to turn the tide and regain the initiative,” the senators wrote in the letter dated Nov. 11.

Earlier today, a national holiday, the president honored veterans in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, saying that “no commemoration, no praise” can match their service.

“Our servicemen and women have been doing right by America for generations,” Obama said. “There is no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice,” he said. “As long as I am commander-in-chief, America’s going to do right by them.”

Obama spoke after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, a white marble sarcophagus housing the remains of unknown American soldiers from World Wars I, II and the Korean conflict.

White House Letter

Earlier, the president and his wife hosted a breakfast at the White House for about 200 veterans. The guest list also included Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, a former Air Force pilot, spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

Obama leaves tomorrow for a trip to China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, his first journey to Asia as president. Jeff Bader, senior director for Asia at the National Security Council, said in a briefing for reporters Nov. 9 that the president would consult with allies on aid to Afghanistan.

The White House issued a statement today thanking Japan for its pledge to provide about $5 billion over five years to help rebuild Afghanistan. “The U.S. appreciates all that Japan has done to assist in the stabilization and reconstruction” of the war-torn nation, the statement said.