"US President Barack Obama moved closer to a crucial decision on the US-led war in Afghanistan after receiving a request from his commander to send in more troops, officials said on Wednesday. With the appeal for reinforcements in hand, Obama and his top advisers could start talking about committing yet more troops to the unpopular war later this week after a wide-ranging strategy review, the White House said. "It could happen as early as Friday, it could be next week," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. As the NATO-led mission struggles to counter a spreading insurgency, Obama faces an appeal for up to 40,000 troops from the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. On Tuesday, the president [said] . . . he had no intention of reducing the US military force in Afghanistan, which will reach 68,000 troops by the end of this year, an administration official said on condition of anonymity. The choice for Obama may lie somewhere between keeping roughly the current level of troops or opting for the commander's "all-in" approach that would inject tens of thousands of additional troops into the fight against Islamist insurgents."
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/obama-weighs-next-move-in-afghan-mission-20091008-gnn7.html
He was running for president for two years before the election, and he's been commander in chief for nine months. Isn't this something Obama should have thought about by now?
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