President Obama's Afghanistan decision is finally coming. According to Mike Allen over at Politico will be next Tuesday. I guess I'll have to rescheduele my cleaning at the dentist. The President hopes that whatever decision he makes doesn't feel like a root canal.
Read below:
President Obama is expected to announce his Afghanistan policy with an address to the nation next Tuesday, Dec. 1, likely in prime time, officials told POLITICO.
Obama held his ninth formal Afghanistan strategy session in the Situation Room on Monday night.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement: “After completing a rigorous final meeting, President Obama has the information he wants and needs to make his decision and he will announce that decision within days.”
The decision is shaping up as one of the most momentous of Obama’s presidency, coming as the public is turning negative toward the war effort and his fellow Democrats are growing increasingly vocal in their opposition to a troop buildup in Afghanistan.
Obama's decisions about his strategy are not known. But administration officials expect him to announce an increase of 20,000 to 40,000 additional troops in Afghanistan, a victory for his commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
McChrystal has argued that "success is achievable" in Afghanistan with proper resources, and 40,000 troops was his middle — and preferred — recommendation in a set of three options he presented in his own strategic review. They would join 68,000 U.S. troops there now.