White House advisers against troop boost in Afghanistan
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Senior White House advisers are fighting the U.S. military's request for a significant boost to troops in Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama is weighing options on the eight-year Afghan war.
The advisers have begun to make the case for a policy shift in Afghanistan that would send few, if any, new combat troops to the country, according to Friday's Washington Post.
Instead of sending a large number of additional troops, they say the United States should focus on faster military training of Afghan forces, continued assassinations of al-Qaida leaders and support for Pakistan in fighting the Taliban.
Stanley A. McChrystal, top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has asked Obama to quickly endorse his call for a change in military strategy and approve the additional resources he needs to retake the initiative from the resurgent Taliban.
The commander, who estimated that nearly 40,000 more troops were needed to win the war, was summoned by the president early Friday aboard Air Force One.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that the meeting lasted 25 minutes but offered no details of the discussion.
As the casualty toll grows and public support for the Afghan war wanes, Obama is carrying out a major strategy review of his Afghanistan policy, which could either lead to more troops being sent or a cutback in the U.S. force there.
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