Obama slows down troop boost decision

[babylonsister]

Obama slows down troop boost decision
By DAVID S. CLOUD | 2/16/09

Barack Obama greets troops.

A more methodical and independent decision-making style than expected has surprised U.S. military officials.
Photo: AP


President Barack Obama is refusing to be rushed into his first decision to send troops into combat, an early sign he may be more independent-minded than U.S. military leaders expected.

The new president's methodical decision-making offers an early insight into how the new commander in chief will approach the war in Afghanistan and has surprised some Pentagon officials, who had predicted repeatedly in the past two weeks that Obama would decide within days on additional forces, only to find the White House taking more time.

Rather than sign off quickly on all or part of a long-standing Pentagon request for three Army combat brigades and Marine units, totaling over 10,000 troops, Obama and his aides are questioning the timetable, the mission and even the composition of the new forces, officials familiar with the deliberations said.

The latest sign of crossed signals occurred Friday, when White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Obama "hasn't made a decision on augmenting our force structure in Afghanistan," three days after Pentagon officials said he would likely do so that week. Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Obama's deliberate approach on his first troop decision "entirely appropriate."

Obama’s deliberate pace represents yet another break with the usual style of his predecessor. Former President George W. Bush usually signed off quickly on requests for additional troops from his commanders, and, especially early in his presidency, he rarely engaged in lengthy discussions about what the troops would be used for. Those decisions were generally worked out ahead of time between field commanders and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who favored holding down troop levels in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

more...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18888.html

[pleah]

1. K&R

[gblady]

2. I remember....

two times where President Obama talked about the sobering duty
of writing letters to the families of those killed in war...

Perhaps that has caused him to pause.

[marylanddem]

3. This is why we elected him.

He needs to end these fucking wars, all of them.

[babylonsister]

4. But he hasn't said he would, especially in Afghanistan.

I'm just glad he's not making any hasty decisions.

And fwiw, I agree with you.

[snappyturtle]

5. This must be a difficult decision for the President. I've seen

documentaries about the problems the current troops encounter in Afghanistan largely because, as reported, the number isn't large enough. But, his questioning the mission gives me hope. Maybe he'll decide that Afghanistan and the historical nature of war there doesn't warrant troops period. I hope so.

[babylonsister]

6. I'm really torn.

I feel so sorry for the women in Afghanistan, but I really don't see this as a winnable anything. Just ask the Russians. :(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5058754&mesg_id=5058754

[snappyturtle]

8. OH, I know that feeling. Those poor women. We can only hope that

the women can, over time, get through to their men who can make the necessary changes although I suppose that is with significant personal risk too. I can almost rationalize that we may be making the women's situation worse by our presence. They may be looked upon as a major reason we are there and therefore 'worthy' of the brutality they suffer.

edit: :(

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Hopefully, he'll slow it down to a halt and then go into reverse.

[backscatter712]

9. Obama seems to be changing the mission.

Bush had the mission in Afghanistan as an open-ended commitment to bring Democracy(TM) (and corporatism and crony-capitalism) to the region and enforce it.

Now Obama seems to have scaled the mission back to whooping the Taliban and Al Qaeda for a time, then bringing our troops home. Far saner.

And it's clear that he's not going to sign off on that unless the generals come up with a proper plan to deliver a military victory, or at least a sane exit strategy. No open-ended occupations.

[chill_wind]

11. Agree. n/t

[chill_wind]

10. The UK media was reporting on this a week ago. It's very interesting

that the U.S. media chose to sit on this until now. We had a DU thread and several DUers googling for it for two days. NOTHING!

It's a very important story. Good for President Obama! He's asking for a more detailed plan. A bottom line and they don't have one. He says not good enough. Come back when you can give me one.

THAT's leadership.

K & R.

[Joe Chi Minh]

12. That's my man! In that he's his own man. Good to read, that that impression of intellectual

self-confidence and integrity he's always exuded, wasn't deceptive.

[Fireweed247]

13. I think...

I love him :loveya:

[bvar22]

14. I applaud this decision.

:patriot:
This is the best thing so far out of the Obama Administration.
I had written off the Escalation of the War in Afghanistan as a DONE DEAL.
I am very glad to see Obama rethinking this.

Unless there is:

1)A specific military objective,
AND
2) A specific EXIT Strategy

...the USA has NO BUSINESS and NO JUSTIFICATION for a Military Presence in Afghanistan or anywhere else!

As of today, the USA has neither a clearly defined Military Objective nor an Exit Strategy.
The people running these wars learned NOTHING from Viet Nam or Iraq.


OR
They learned that endless WAR is a good way for a handful of Sociopaths to get VERY rich.

[Why Syzygy]

15. And the weak arsed cry

I read for jurisdiction over Afghan opium fields is not war justified. Period. If help is needed, that's something else altogether. One reason Iraq has always been such a eff up is due to the extreme sanctions they were under for a decade prior. And we don't need to be in the drug trade, especially as the 'po-lice'.