President Barack Obama meets in the Situation Room with his national security advisors to discuss strategy in Syria, Saturday, August 31, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Obama’s Counterterror Plan Has New Doubters: His Own Generals And Spies -- Josh Rogin & Kimberly Dozier, Daily Beast
The idea of pulling nearly all American troops out of Afghanistan in 2016 suddenly seems pretty lousy, after so much of Iraq has collapsed under a similar scenario.
When President Obama announced his plan to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2016, U.S. intelligence said it could be done safely. Now, intelligence and military leaders are privately warning that the U.S. counterterrorism forces could be needed there for much longer.
During the internal administration debate earlier this year over the way forward in Afghanistan, the CIA supported a plan to degrade al Qaeda to the point that America could withdraw almost all of its troops there by 2016. The responsibility of fighting al Qaeda would be left mostly to the Afghan and Pakistani militaries.
For a White House looking to announce a new policy to go to zero combat troops in Afghanistan by the time President Obama leaves office, the agency’s classified assessment was exactly what they wanted to hear. But the assessment ran afoul of military leaders, especially those responsible for Afghanistan, who had long advocated for leaving a residual force in Afghanistan past 2016, including a strong contingent of the special operations and intelligence personnel to pursue and press al Qaeda.
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My Comment: Talk about "covering your ass". A few months ago they (the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community) accepted President Obama's announcement that U.S. forces will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2016 ... but with the astounding success of ISIS in Iraq .... they are now hedging their bets. Sighhhh .... what a disappointment .... and you cannot help but wonder if these are the right people who should be advising the President on national security issues .... or more to the point .... these people are serving at the pleasure of the President .... why is he still keeping them?
3 comments:
Of course they are the right people, he picked them. Their ability in photo op composition is fantastic. Just look at the intellectual pensiveness they are displaying as they hang on Obama's every word. They with Josh in all earnestness are approaching (dare I say it, yes I must) that rarefied level that only Kim and his boys in North Korea occupy.
Your clear observations on the little details in the photos that I post up always amazes me James. Just want to say thank you for the input that you are contributing to this site.
Thanks, but like I say, they write themselves. A little further analysis of the photo reveals 1) Hagel dressed without his wife's approval. 2) The woman to Obama's left, Powers I believe, needs the restroom desperately and finally 3) That guy way way in the back right is doing his best Rodin "The Thinker" look to show he's with the program too, whatever it is they're talking about that he can't hear.
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