Any US troop Surge in Afghanistan?

[Merlin]

Stanley McChrystal has hand delivered the long talked about report to Mike Mullen. They had half a day of talks. Robert Gates and other civilian officers were not present.

Afghan war commander submits troop request

1 day ago [AP] WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top military officer flew to Europe to talk to the commander in the Afghanistan war Friday about how many troops he needs to turn around the faltering campaign.

President Barack Obama would not say whether he thinks the war requires more troops, and said he is reviewing whether the United States is pursuing the right strategy to defeat al-Qaida.

"I will ultimately make the decision that will meet that core goal I set out at the beginning," Obama said at a news conference in Pittsburgh.

Two defense officials said that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen met Gen. Stanley McChrystal for a half day of talks Friday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The U.S. commanders for NATO and the Middle East region also attended. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.

The officials said Mullen received McChrystal's report on how many troops he thinks he needs to defeat the insurgency. They declined to confirm what others have said privately for weeks — that McChrystal wants some 40,000 more troops.

The officials said Mullen asked for the meeting because he wanted a face-to-face talk with McChrystal to better understand what the warfront commander wants and why he wants it.

Not present at Friday's meeting were Defense Secretary Robert Gates or other civilian Afghanistan policy chiefs, who did attend an emergency strategy session on Afghanistan over the summer.

Gates has not said whether he endorses additional troops for the war, as Mullen did this month.

The war is losing public support, and Democrats in Congress have told Obama they do not want to send more forces. ....

[Merlin]

Apparently the top military officers agree on increasing the troop number.

US military united on Afghanistan troop request

26 Sept [CSMonitor] Washington - The top US military officers now agree that more troops are needed to win the conflict in Afghanistan, leaving President Obama with potentially less wiggle room in making a decision about deepening America's involvement there.

This week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, received a troop request in a secret meeting in Germany with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, whose recently submitted strategy review concluded that a larger US force is necessary to win the counterinsurgency there. That request will arrive on Mr. Obama's desk in coming days, bringing debate on the way forward in Afghanistan to a head.

Should Mr. Obama turn down the request from his commander on the ground, he may risk alienating a military that is now publicly in favor of sending more troops. Earlier this week, Gen. David Petraeus voiced support for a troop increase in Afghanistan. General Petraeus oversaw the surge of forces in Iraq in 2007 that is widely held to be a counterinsurgency success story. ...

...while there's concern today about stress on the military after eight years of war, top military officers largely agree about a troop surge. Some of them also fear that a loss in Afghanistan would demoralize the military in the long term. .....

[Merlin]

After receiving McChrystal's report from the Pentagon, Obama is gathering his top aids at the White House's Situation Room for a review.

Obama to meet high-powered aides for Afghan review

3 hrs ago [AFP] WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama gathers an array of high-powered advisors Wednesday to begin a sweeping Afghan strategy review that will culminate in a fateful decision on whether to escalate the war.

Obama has called his most formidable military, political and national security aides to the secure Situation Room of the White House, to brainstorm the way forward as he mulls sending thousands more US troops into battle.

The president is under intense pressure to reinvigorate US strategy, faced with a strengthening Taliban insurgency and souring US public opinion on the eight-year war, but aides say he will not make a final decision for weeks.

Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were the top ranking civilian officials expected for a bracing session on a war some supporters fear could swamp Obama's presidency.

War commander General Stanley McChrystal, who warned in a leaked report that the conflict could be lost within a year without more troops, was also due to to take part, either in person or by video link-up, the White House said.

Other top military brass included were General David Petraeus who heads US central command, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair.

CIA chief Leon Panetta was also due to take part, along with Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the US ambassadors to Islamabad and Kabul. ...

McChrystal has reportedly requested up to 40,000 more US soldiers to fight the Taliban, but Obama is considering whether current tactics are the best way to defeat Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Some experts however doubt whether even that kind of deployment will be sufficient to subdue the insurgency. They advocate a narrower strategy of surgical strikes designed to squeeze Al-Qaeda.

Obama's task in building political support for any troop increase is being complicated by the fraud-tainted Afghan presidential election and widespread mistrust in Washington over the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Some Republican critics have accused Obama of undue delay on framing a new Afghan strategy and called for him to approve any request for more troops submitted by the Pentagon. ....