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Obama Will Send 34,000 U.S. Troops to Afghanistan
McClatchy ^ | Monday, November 23, 2009

Posted on 11/23/2009 8:13:54 PM PST by kristinn

President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called "a war of necessity" in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy.

Obama is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on Dec. 1, followed by meetings on Capitol Hill aimed at winning congressional support amid opposition by some Democrats who are worried about the strain on the U.S. Treasury and whether Afghanistan has become a quagmire, the officials said.

The U.S. officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the issue publicly and because, one official said, the White House is incensed by leaks on its Afghanistan policy that didn't originate in the White House.

They said the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, could arrive in Washington as early as Sunday to participate in the rollout of the new plan, including testifying before Congress toward the end of next week. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry also are expected to appear before congressional committees.

As it now stands, the plan calls for the deployment over a nine-month period beginning in March of three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., and a Marine brigade from Camp Lejeune, N.C., for as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops.

In addition, a 7,000-strong division headquarters would be sent to take command of U.S.-led NATO forces in southern Afghanistan — to which the U.S. has long been committed — and 4,000 U.S. military trainers would be dispatched to help accelerate...

(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; bhogwot; fourth100days; mcchrystal; obama; oef; oefsurge
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To: kristinn

“If he were doing his job he would have known enough in August to decide within weeks after having the recommendation vetted.”

With typical messianic clarity of vision and purpose, the Hamster is deploying these additional troops just as the Afghan winter begins to sink its teeth into the country. This means these troops will basically not be able to operate until April or May of 2010, just in time for The One to withdraw them for being ineffective!

Had they been deployed in August or September, they could have fought for territory before the winter came, now we have nothing more than an empty gesture from the empty suit.


21 posted on 11/23/2009 8:24:56 PM PST by Rembrandt
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To: kristinn

So it’s been three months since the troops were requested... they will not start to arrive until March and it will take nine months for half of what was requested to get there. It took this ahole this long for this kind of a plan??????


22 posted on 11/23/2009 8:25:01 PM PST by ladyvet (WOLVERINES!!!!!)
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To: mylife
Remember the cry "no rush to war"?

Old mantras die hard.

Except when it's time for a war on Sarah Palin and/or Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, I guess.

Cheers!

23 posted on 11/23/2009 8:25:23 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: kristinn

My nephew will be among the brigade from Camp LeJeune. I just hope the ditherer-in-chief lets them get there with enough time to prepare for the spring offensive, when the cockroaches come out of their caves en masse. God, please protect our troops.


24 posted on 11/23/2009 8:26:00 PM PST by SueRae
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To: kristinn

Just imagine how safe our own country would be with 34,000 troops on the border.


25 posted on 11/23/2009 8:26:00 PM PST by Fast Ed97 (Is it bad when you start to miss the Clinton years?)
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To: mylife
Gee, why the rush Barry?

He has to make the announcement soon. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize takes place in Oslo on December 10th (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8298580.stm).

Got to get this pesky troop stuff out of the way so he can enjoy his trip...after all, that's about him!

(I have no idea whether he's going. Perhaps he is still "wrestling" over that decision too.).
26 posted on 11/23/2009 8:26:34 PM PST by LostInBayport (When the riders in the cart outnumber those pulling the cart, the cart stops moving. My back hurts.)
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To: kristinn

...and tomorrow, the White House will deny the reports.

While more young Americans die as Obama fails to make the hard choices.


27 posted on 11/23/2009 8:27:08 PM PST by MediaMole
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To: mylife
Gee, why the rush Barry?

Must have got a sneak preview of Governor Palin's interview with Greta this evening...Mama Bear was pissed.

28 posted on 11/23/2009 8:28:17 PM PST by who knows what evil? (G-d saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.org.)
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To: kristinn

bttt


29 posted on 11/23/2009 8:29:06 PM PST by rdl6989 (January 20, 2013 The end of an error.)
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To: for-q-clinton
"Obviously he was waiting for the Senate to vote on the initial round for healthcare."

Perceptive. Let's see if Limbaugh picks up on it.

yitbos

30 posted on 11/23/2009 8:30:11 PM PST by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds.")
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To: Cicero

And even if he does it, we still have the big question: What are the rules of engagement?

The ROE is to immediatally drop your weapon, throw your hands in the air, and start reading the “Miranda Rights”.


31 posted on 11/23/2009 8:30:26 PM PST by SgtBob (Freedom is not for the faint of heart. Semper Fi!)
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To: STARWISE
" The U.S. officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly and because, one official said, the White House is incensed by leaks on its Afghanistan policy that didn’t originate in the White House. "

What a load of crap.
What about those leaks that were leaked when President Bush was in office that the liberals and the main fringe media were so gleeful to announce to the world ?
32 posted on 11/23/2009 8:31:56 PM PST by American Constitutionalist (There is no civility in the way the Communist/Marxist want to destroy the USA)
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To: kristinn
It took Obama three long months to come up with McChrystal-lite.

It was probably taxing too much of his willpower. Never underestimate liberal mind block.

33 posted on 11/23/2009 8:32:11 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster (LUV DIC -- L,U,V-shaped recession, Depression, Inflation, Collapse)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...
President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called "a war of necessity" in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy.
Gosh, almost as if the rumors so strenuously denied last week were exactly accurate. Okay, *now* it's bedtime. Everytime I think I'm out, they drag me back in... ;')
34 posted on 11/23/2009 8:33:14 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: maine-iac7

In addition to it being a day late and dollar short, his base is going to furious.


35 posted on 11/23/2009 8:34:14 PM PST by JerseyDvl (Dedicated Palinista who is suffering from an extreme case of Baracknaphobia. Severe reaction to BS!)
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To: mylife
Could it have something to do with the poll numbers maybe ?
Or that he knows that Dirty Reid has a under handed way to get the HealthCare plan passed so now he has a green light to send the troops and screw what the lefties and code pink say now.
36 posted on 11/23/2009 8:35:37 PM PST by American Constitutionalist (There is no civility in the way the Communist/Marxist want to destroy the USA)
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To: kristinn

He’s a wobbly weasel to his core. God be
with our troops .. St. Michael, defend
them in battle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Behind Afghan War Debate, a Battle of Two Books Rages

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125487333320069331.html

###

Excerpt:

The struggle to set the future course of the Afghan war is becoming a battle of two books — both suddenly popular among White House and Pentagon brain trusts.

The two draw decidedly different lessons from the Vietnam War. The first book describes a White House in 1965 being marched into an escalating war by a military viewing the conflict too narrowly to see the perils ahead. President Barack Obama recently finished the book, according to administration officials, and Vice President Joe Biden is reading it now.

The second describes a different administration, in 1972, when a U.S. military that has finally figured out how to counter the insurgency is rejected by political leaders who bow to popular opinion and end the fight.

It has been recommended in multiple lists put out by military officers, including a former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who passed it out to his subordinates.

The two books — “Lessons in Disaster,” on Mr. Obama’s nightstand, and “A Better War” on the shelves of military gurus — have become a framework for the debate over what will be one of the most important decisions of Mr. Obama’s presidency.

On Tuesday, in a White House meeting that went well over its allotted hour, Mr. Obama discussed the war with 31 members of Congress. Republican leaders, and some Democrats, pressed him to quickly accept the judgment of his commanders and send as many as 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. But some Democrats asked if the war was winnable.

In Washington, books are flying off shelves. None of the major bookstores near the White House have the recently released paperback edition of “Lessons in Disaster” in stock, and one major shop in the Georgetown area, Barnes & Noble, said all its remaining copies were being held for buyers.

~~~~

Video - Washington bureau chief John Bussey discusses two new books with competing Afghanistan narrative on the News Hub.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125487333320069331.html#

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Influencing his arguments, I’m sure .. and since
he’s so ‘scholarly’ and so weak, he’s probably
been cowed even more ... damn him.


37 posted on 11/23/2009 8:36:18 PM PST by STARWISE (They (LIBS-STILL) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war- Richard Miniter)
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To: bruinbirdman

I had been saying that for the past 6 weeks. I may even have posted it on FR.

I told my wife he was going to make an decision AFTER the sentate takes its initial vote on Healthcare. He needed a distraction for the left while he increased troops in Afghanistan.

I’m quite surprised Limbaugh wasn’t in front of this one claiming this for weeks...which would have put Obama under pressure to make the decison BEFORE the vote. Which would have made the vote a lot more interesting as Obama’s polling would have gone down to the low 40’s for approval on Gallup.


38 posted on 11/23/2009 8:38:11 PM PST by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: kristinn
Obama Will Send 34,000 U.S. Troops to Afghanistan

This year or next?

39 posted on 11/23/2009 8:39:35 PM PST by SouthTexas (God Bless our Fort Hood Troops)
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To: mylife

Because, once a constipated impacted turd gets going, you can’t stop it.


40 posted on 11/23/2009 8:39:57 PM PST by American Constitutionalist (There is no civility in the way the Communist/Marxist want to destroy the USA)
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