Afghanistan exit strategy – News Stories About Afghanistan exit strategy - Page 8

Analysis

Nov 25, 2009 9:26 AM CST

Obama Is the Anti-Cowboy

Slow decision on Afghanistan a contrast from Bush's gut checks

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s prolonged Afghanistan strategy review has if nothing else distinguished him from his predecessor—Obama is anything but the “gut player” Dubya claimed to be. In fact, he’s put on “a spectacle of deliberation unlike anything seen in the White House in recent memory,”...

Fresh Troops to Target Afghanistan's Troubled South

Nov 25, 2009 7:54 AM CST

Fresh Troops to Target Afghanistan's Troubled South

Kandahar key in coming Afghan surge

(Newser) - Though President Obama has yet to announce his plan for finishing the job in Afghanistan, military commanders say the bulk of the fresh troops—regardless of their number—will be sent to the country's volatile south to reverse Taliban gains, specifically targeting the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. The coming surge...

Obama: I'll 'Finish the Job'
in Afghanistan

Nov 24, 2009 2:55 PM CST

Obama: I'll 'Finish the Job' in Afghanistan

President's troop decision expected this week

(Newser) - He didn't tip his hand on many troops it would take, but President Obama said today that he intends to "finish the job" in Afghanistan. He promised to unveil a strategy after Thanksgiving that will "dismantle and degrade” the enemy while making sure that "al Qaeda and...

Report: Obama Will Send
34K Troops to Afghanistan

Nov 24, 2009 7:57 AM CST

Report: Obama Will Send 34K Troops to Afghanistan

Prez finalized decision last night, will address nation next week

(Newser) - President Obama has made his choice on Afghan strategy after months of deliberations and will announce it next week, administration sources tell McClatchy . The president finalized his decision to send another 34,000 troops in meetings last night, and plans to address the nation on the choice next Tuesday, prior...

In Afghanistan Debate, Obama Focuses on Exit

Analysis

Nov 17, 2009 8:15 AM CST

In Afghanistan Debate, Obama Focuses on Exit

White House wants to make sure surge will enable handover

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s extended ruminations on an Afghan surge aren’t really over how many troops to send in—they’re about how they’ll get those troops out. Obama’s main problem with the initial military plan was that it seemed too open ended, administration sources tell Gerald...

Obama Rejects
Afghan War Options

Nov 12, 2009 7:45 AM CST

Obama Rejects Afghan War Options

President wants modified plans, timetables

(Newser) - President Obama refused to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented to him in yesterday's 2 1/2 hour strategy meeting, the AP reports, as concerns soar over the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the ability of a corrupt Afghan government to eventually secure its own country. Obama...

Rush: Obama
Doesn't Care
About War in
Afghanistan

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Nov 1, 2009 9:50 AM CST

Rush: Obama Doesn't Care About War in Afghanistan

Furthermore, prez is intentionally killing economy, says Limbaugh

(Newser) - Ever-reticent talking head Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves today, telling Fox News Sunday that President Obama "doesn't care much about" the war in Afghanistan, and his recent salute of slain soldiers "was a photo op precisely because he’s having big time trouble on this Afghanistan dithering...

Obama Needs to Decide if He's in It to Win It

david brooks on afghan war

Oct 30, 2009 8:20 AM CDT

Obama Needs to Decide if He's in It to Win It

Hasn't proved he's truly committed to the fight

(Newser) - These White House strategy sessions on Afghanistan are all well and good and full of questions, writes David Brooks , but they sidestep the big one: Is he committed to the effort? We know President Obama is a smart guy. What we don't know is whether he has the "tenacity"...

City-Focused
Afghan Plan
Winning Support

Oct 28, 2009 6:36 AM CDT

City-Focused Afghan Plan Winning Support

Emerging strategy fuses McChrystal, Biden competing plans

(Newser) - A plan one official describes as "McChrystal for the city, Biden for the country," is emerging as the administration continues to hammer out its Afghan strategy. The plan would concentrate US forces in population centers, while maintaining pressure on insurgents elsewhere with drone strikes and targeted attacks from...

Biden on Cheney's Afghan Bluster: 'Who Cares?'

Oct 23, 2009 6:40 PM CDT

Biden on Cheney's Afghan Bluster: 'Who Cares?'

In Europe, VP calls predecessor's review of conflict 'irrelevant'

(Newser) - Joe Biden’s in Europe, but his latest opinion of Dick Cheney’s continued attacks on President Obama isn’t getting lost in translation. Asked about Cheney’s criticism that Obama is “dithering” on Afghanistan, Biden replied: “Who cares?” Biden added that a review of the conflict late...

Arianna: Biden Should Resign Over Afghanistan

opinion

Oct 14, 2009 5:54 PM CDT

Arianna: Biden Should Resign Over Afghanistan

If Obama ramps up troops, the VP should quit on principle

(Newser) - Joe Biden should resign on principle if President Obama sends more troops to Afghanistan, writes Arianna Huffington. It's no secret Biden has "deep reservations" about ramping up the war effort there. "So if the president does decide to escalate, Biden, for the good of the country, should escalate...

Biden's Doubts on Afghan Strategy Wins Allies

ANALYSIS

Oct 14, 2009 5:21 AM CDT

Biden's Doubts on Afghan Strategy Wins Allies

VP's calls for a narrowed mission echo increasing pessimism on war

(Newser) - Joe Biden was a lone voice of skepticism on Afghanistan strategy after his fact-finding tour there earlier this year, but many in the White House have gradually swung to his point of view. Biden's perspective that the mission should be narrowed is now favored by administration liberals. The position reflects...

Vietnam Books Playing Key Role in Afghan War Debate

WHAT OBAMA IS READING

Oct 7, 2009 8:24 AM CDT

Vietnam Books Playing Key Role in Afghan War Debate

Competing works on Vietnam War top policymakers' reading lists

(Newser) - A pair of books on the Vietnam War—one on why America should never have gotten involved, and one on how it could have won—are providing the framework for the Washington debate over Afghanistan strategy, insiders say. Lessons in Disaster, which describes how the White House was pushed into...

McChrystal Should 'Shut Up'

OPINION

Oct 5, 2009 4:27 PM CDT

McChrystal Should 'Shut Up'

General's job is to advise the president, not lobby publicly for policy changes

(Newser) - The decisions President Obama will make following his review of Afghanistan policy will be some of the most important of his presidency. The last thing he needs, then, is a rogue general waging a public campaign for the adoption of his preferred strategy. To be sure, Stanley McChrystal deserves enormous...

White House Split on
Afghanistan Strategy

Oct 2, 2009 1:17 AM CDT

White House Split on Afghanistan Strategy

'Skeptic-in-chief' Biden challenges McChrystal's call for more troops

(Newser) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal's call to beef up the war effort in Afghanistan is proving a tough sell with senior administration officials. White House advisers challenged many aspects of the commander's assessment at a meeting this week, including his belief that al-Qaeda would again find sanctuary in Afghanistan if the...

US Troops: It's 'Vietnam Without the Napalm'

Oct 1, 2009 4:45 PM CDT

US Troops: It's 'Vietnam Without the Napalm'

(Newser) - The US troops patrolling the Arghandab River area in southern Afghanistan have one of the most arduous tasks of the war: winning the support of the locals in a region where the Taliban is gaining strength. Hal Bernton of McClatchy Newspapers checks in with the soldiers of Bravo Company and...

Americans Fed Up
With Afghan War

OPINION

Sep 26, 2009 9:59 AM CDT

Americans Fed Up With Afghan War

(Newser) - The Obama administration is busy figuring out how to fine-tune its Afghan strategy while most Americans by and large just want us out of there. "A clash is coming," warns Bob Herbert. Most people are tired of the war, worried about the recession, and in no mood for...

Brooks:
Listen to McChrystal

opinion

Sep 25, 2009 9:12 AM CDT

Brooks: Listen to McChrystal

President Obama must dismiss 'graveyard of empires' remarks

(Newser) - Talk to people who have a superficial sense of Afghanistan, and you'll hear the same thing: It's a "graveyard of empires," and the US needs to get out. Genuine experts, people who live there, dismiss the stereotype as "rubbish" and take a more "guardedly optimistic" view....

Obama's Top Advisers Split on Afghan Troop Levels

Sep 4, 2009 10:13 AM CDT

Obama's Top Advisers Split on Afghan Troop Levels

(Newser) - President Obama's advisers are divided over the Pentagon's expected request for more troops to be deployed to Afghanistan, reports the New York Times. Joe Biden is leading the just-say-no camp, arguing that the mission in Pakistan is more important. The opposition includes envoy Richard Holbrooke, who says US troops are...

Afghan Report Pressures
Prez for More Troops

Sep 1, 2009 9:54 AM CDT

Afghan Report Pressures Prez for More Troops

Where military sees inadequate resources, Dem base sees hopeless mire

(Newser) - As he heads to Camp David tomorrow, with General Stanley McChrystal's assessment of the situation in Afghanistan under his arm, President Obama faces a political minefield. The grim report lays the groundwork for deploying more troops to Afghanistan, the New York Times reports, adding pressure on the president, who must...