originally posted on 29-march , if already posted pls delete
NEW YORK - Vice President Joseph Biden warned against US getting into a political and military quagmire in Afghanistan during an intense internal debate before President Barack Obama approved the plan to widen American involvement in the war-torn country, The New York Times reported Saturday.
In a front-page news analysis, the newspaper pointed out that the military advisers had argued that the Afghan war effort could be imperilled without even more combat troops.
âAll of the presidentâs advisers agreed that the primary goal in the region should be narrow - taking aim at Al Qaeda, as opposed to the vast attempt at nation-building the Bush administration had sought in Iraq,â The Timesâ correspondent wrote from Washington. âThe question was how to get there.
âThe commanders in the field wanted a firmer and long-term commitment of more combat troops beyond the 17,000 that Obama had already promised to send, and a pledge that billions of dollars would be found to significantly expand the number of Afghan security forcesâ.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pressed for an additional 4,000 troops to be sent to Afghanistan - but only to serve as trainers. âThey tempered the commandersâ request and agreed to put off any decision to order more combat troops to Afghanistan until the end of this year, when the strategyâs progress could be assessedâ.
During these discussions, the dispatch said, Biden was the voice of caution, reminding the group members that they would have to sell their plans to a skeptical Congress.
âObama left a final White House meeting in the Situation Room last Friday signalling to participants that he was close to a decision, but that he wanted to get comfortable with what he was going to do. On Wednesday, he told his top aides that he had made up his mind,â correspondent Helene wrote without naming the administration officials who gave her the information.
In announcing a plan on Friday that could be his signature foreign policy effort, Obama said that he would send more troops but stipulated that they would not carry out combat missions, and would instead be used to train the Afghan Army and the national police.
The debate over the past few weeks offered a glimpse into how Obama makes decisions. âIn this case, he chose a compromise between his political and military advisers that some critics say includes some strategic holes, such as a reliance on the same sort of vague guidelines that proved difficult to carry out in Iraq. It also offers insight into the role of Biden and other members of a foreign policy team that includes many powerful figures vying for Obamaâs attention,â the dispatch said.
âIn the end the plan is a compromise that reflected all of the strains of the discussion among his advisers, one that is markedly different, though perhaps no less difficult, from the goals his predecessor set for the region. In speaking of Afghanistan and Iraq, President George W. Bush spoke of lofty goals that included building nations that could stand as models of democracy in the Muslim worldâ.
NEW YORK - Vice President Joseph Biden warned against US getting into a political and military quagmire in Afghanistan during an intense internal debate before President Barack Obama approved the plan to widen American involvement in the war-torn country, The New York Times reported Saturday.
In a front-page news analysis, the newspaper pointed out that the military advisers had argued that the Afghan war effort could be imperilled without even more combat troops.
âAll of the presidentâs advisers agreed that the primary goal in the region should be narrow - taking aim at Al Qaeda, as opposed to the vast attempt at nation-building the Bush administration had sought in Iraq,â The Timesâ correspondent wrote from Washington. âThe question was how to get there.
âThe commanders in the field wanted a firmer and long-term commitment of more combat troops beyond the 17,000 that Obama had already promised to send, and a pledge that billions of dollars would be found to significantly expand the number of Afghan security forcesâ.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pressed for an additional 4,000 troops to be sent to Afghanistan - but only to serve as trainers. âThey tempered the commandersâ request and agreed to put off any decision to order more combat troops to Afghanistan until the end of this year, when the strategyâs progress could be assessedâ.
During these discussions, the dispatch said, Biden was the voice of caution, reminding the group members that they would have to sell their plans to a skeptical Congress.
âObama left a final White House meeting in the Situation Room last Friday signalling to participants that he was close to a decision, but that he wanted to get comfortable with what he was going to do. On Wednesday, he told his top aides that he had made up his mind,â correspondent Helene wrote without naming the administration officials who gave her the information.
In announcing a plan on Friday that could be his signature foreign policy effort, Obama said that he would send more troops but stipulated that they would not carry out combat missions, and would instead be used to train the Afghan Army and the national police.
The debate over the past few weeks offered a glimpse into how Obama makes decisions. âIn this case, he chose a compromise between his political and military advisers that some critics say includes some strategic holes, such as a reliance on the same sort of vague guidelines that proved difficult to carry out in Iraq. It also offers insight into the role of Biden and other members of a foreign policy team that includes many powerful figures vying for Obamaâs attention,â the dispatch said.
âIn the end the plan is a compromise that reflected all of the strains of the discussion among his advisers, one that is markedly different, though perhaps no less difficult, from the goals his predecessor set for the region. In speaking of Afghanistan and Iraq, President George W. Bush spoke of lofty goals that included building nations that could stand as models of democracy in the Muslim worldâ.
