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Obama eyeing troop cut in Afghanistan: Report

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-24 09:04

WASHINGTON: US President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al-Qaida there and in Pakistan, officials said late on Tuesday.

Full coverage:  Afghan Presidential Election  Related readings:  US commander warns of 'failure' in Afghanistan  Report: General calls for more Afghanistan troops  Australia: No US request for more troops  Additional troops not the answer, say Afghan forces

The options under review are part of what administration officials described as a wholesale reconsideration of a strategy Obama announced with fanfare just six months ago. Two intelligence reports are being conducted to evaluate Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The broad reassessment has been prompted by deteriorating conditions on the ground, the messy and still unsettled outcome of the Afghan elections and a dire report by Obama's new commander, General Stanley McChrystal. Aides said the president wanted to examine whether the strategy he unveiled in March was still the best approach and whether it could work with the extra combat forces McChrystal wants.

In looking at other options, aides said, Obama might just be testing assumptions - and assuring liberals in his own party that he was not rushing into a further expansion of the war - before ultimately agreeing to the anticipated troop request from McChrystal.

Although Obama has said that a stable Afghanistan is central to the security of the United States, some advisers said he was also wary of becoming trapped in an overseas quagmire. Some Pentagon officials say they worry that he is having what they called "buyer's remorse" after ordering an extra 21,000 troops there within weeks of taking office before even settling on a strategy.

Instead of increasing troops, officials said, Biden proposed scaling back the overall American military presence. Rather than trying to protect the Afghan population from the Taliban, American forces would concentrate on strikes against Al-Qaida cells, primarily in Pakistan, using special forces, Predator missile attacks and other surgical tactics.

The New York Times