Darklord
10-08-2009, 06:03 PM
WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday the Taliban posed less of a threat to US security than Al-Qaeda, raising speculation that President Barack Obama may decide against huge troop increases in Afghanistan.
Officials involved in Obama's intense Afghan policy review argued that Al-Qaeda poses a grave danger to US interests and the American homeland while the Taliban, though hostile to US forces in Afghanistan, did not.
The assessments seemed to differ with the view of war commander General Stanley McChrystal, who asked for up to 40,000 more troops and warned the counter-insurgency against the Taliban could fail without reinforcements.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who has ruled out any reduction in US forces in Afghanistan, said Obama had yet to make any firm decisions as he conducts an exhaustive Afghan policy review.
But he said there was "clearly a difference" between the two groups, styling Al-Qaeda as an "entity that, through a global, transnational jihadist network, would seek to strike the US homeland."
"I think that the Taliban are obviously exceedingly bad people that have done awful things. Their capability is somewhat different, though, on that continuum of transnational threats."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iH1WgxXpLu_caX4-aqObScOIxtVA
President Obama is prepared to accept some Taleban involvement in Afghanistan’s political future and is unlikely to favour a large influx of new US troops being demanded by his ground commander, a senior official said tonight.
Mr Obama appears to have been swayed in recent days by arguments from some advisers, led by Vice-President Joe Biden, that the Taleban do not pose a direct threat to the US and that there should be greater focus on tackling al-Qaeda inside Pakistan.
The official, speaking anonymously to the press about Mr Obama’s internal discussions – a tactic that is causing dismay among some senior military officials – said the president’s final decision on his war strategy and troop levels is still at least two weeks away.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6866894.ece
Will this work? Has the US government forgotten why they were in Afghanistan in the first place?
Officials involved in Obama's intense Afghan policy review argued that Al-Qaeda poses a grave danger to US interests and the American homeland while the Taliban, though hostile to US forces in Afghanistan, did not.
The assessments seemed to differ with the view of war commander General Stanley McChrystal, who asked for up to 40,000 more troops and warned the counter-insurgency against the Taliban could fail without reinforcements.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who has ruled out any reduction in US forces in Afghanistan, said Obama had yet to make any firm decisions as he conducts an exhaustive Afghan policy review.
But he said there was "clearly a difference" between the two groups, styling Al-Qaeda as an "entity that, through a global, transnational jihadist network, would seek to strike the US homeland."
"I think that the Taliban are obviously exceedingly bad people that have done awful things. Their capability is somewhat different, though, on that continuum of transnational threats."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iH1WgxXpLu_caX4-aqObScOIxtVA
President Obama is prepared to accept some Taleban involvement in Afghanistan’s political future and is unlikely to favour a large influx of new US troops being demanded by his ground commander, a senior official said tonight.
Mr Obama appears to have been swayed in recent days by arguments from some advisers, led by Vice-President Joe Biden, that the Taleban do not pose a direct threat to the US and that there should be greater focus on tackling al-Qaeda inside Pakistan.
The official, speaking anonymously to the press about Mr Obama’s internal discussions – a tactic that is causing dismay among some senior military officials – said the president’s final decision on his war strategy and troop levels is still at least two weeks away.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6866894.ece
Will this work? Has the US government forgotten why they were in Afghanistan in the first place?