Hey there, Dana Ritter, CBN News White House producer here. I work with David Brody. You can send well wishes my way. Just kidding, kind of.
Today I got an insider's view of President Obama as he welcomed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House. When world leaders get together, they like to have press conferences together. It's kind of a show of affection and togetherness, believe it or not.
So, there they were, the two leaders of the world's largest democracies, standing side by side at twin podiums in the East Room of the White House. Along for the ride - about 300 reporters, and hundreds of cameras. The press was split up, with American reporters in left field and Indian reporters in right field. It was a tight squeeze! We were told the world leaders would take one question each.
It doesn't take a genius to know what the number one question is right now... AFGHANISTAN. Mark Knoller, of CBS, threw the pitch to a smiling President Obama who had to know it was coming...
It's been three months since General Stanley McChrystal officially asked for 40,000 additional troops. President Obama has had ten meetings with his "war council." The White House says last night's meeting was the final one, though, and the President said the American people will hear his plan for next week.
Here's the exchange between the reporter and the President. It's short on details, but straight from the Commander In Chief himself:
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
We're going to take one question each, one from an American journalist and one from an Indian journalist. And I'm going to call on Mark Knoller. Where's Mark? There you are. Good to see you, Mark.
Q Good to see you, sir. Mr. President, I suspect you don't want my colleagues and I to rely on leaks until next week, so I'd like to ask you about --
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Why stop now? (Laughter.)
Q Well, perhaps you'd like to help us set a new stage in our relationship by telling us where you stand on your decision on Afghanistan. You had your -- what we were told was your final meeting last evening. Can you tell us how many more troops you'll be sending to Afghanistan, how you'll be paying for them, and whether you'll be announcing a timetable and/or exit strategy for them?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Mark, I will be making an announcement to the American people about how we intend to move forward. I will be doing so shortly.
I think that the review that we've gone through has been comprehensive and extremely useful, and has brought together my key military advisors, but also civilian advisors. I can tell you, as I've said before, that it is in our strategic interest, in our national security interest to make sure that al Qaeda and its extremist allies cannot operate effectively in those areas. We are going to dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately dismantle and destroy their networks. And Afghanistan's stability is important to that process.
I've also indicated that after eight years -- some of those years in which we did not have, I think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done -- it is my intention to finish the job. And I feel very confident that when the American people hear a clear rationale for what we're doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals that they will be supportive.
Now, I think it's worth mentioning since I'm with the Prime Minister of India that this important not just to the United States, but it's important to the world, and that the whole world I think has a core security interest in making sure that the kind of extremism and violence that you've seen emanating from this region is tackled, confronted in a serious way.
Now, we have to do it as part of a broader international community. And so one of the things I'm going to be discussing is the obligations of our international partners in this process. It's going to be very important to recognize that the Afghan people ultimately are going to have to provide for their own security. And so we'll be discussing that process whereby Afghan security forces are properly trained and equipped to do the job. And it's going to be important to recognize that in order for us to succeed there you've got to have a comprehensive strategy that includes civilian and diplomatic efforts.
So I think that's a sufficient preview to last until after Thanksgiving, Mark.
Q Tuesday night, sir?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: After Thanksgiving. (Laughter.) And I'm sure that at that point, if there are further questions, that we'll be answering them to the satisfaction not just of you, but to the satisfaction of the American people.