U.S. Marines with Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment kneel at the firing line during live-fire training on the battle site zero range at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, on Nov. 22, 2008. The Marines are required to complete the training as part of their reception, staging, onward movement and integration training. DoD photo by Cpl. Pete Thibodeau, U.S. Marine Corps. (Released)From Army Times:
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to redirect U.S. troops and resources to Afghanistan from Iraq, but he has done little so far to suggest he will significantly widen the grinding war with insurgents in Afghanistan.
On the contrary, Obama appears likely to streamline the U.S. focus with an eye to the worsening economy and the cautionary example of the Iraq war that sapped political support for President George W. Bush.
“There’s not simply a military solution to that problem,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said last week, and Obama thinks “that only through long-term and sustainable development can we ever hope to turn around what’s going on there.”
Less than two weeks into the new administration, Obama has had little to say in public about what his top military adviser says is the largest challenge facing the armed forces. He did say Afghanistan and Pakistan are the central front in the struggle against terrorism, a clue to the likely shift toward a targeted counterterrorism strategy.
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My Comment: On the one hand the White House is stating that they are formulating a new strategy for Afghanistan, and that it will take time. On the other hand they are saying that their options on Afghanistan are limited, and that the surge of 30,000 soldiers to Afghanistan is their limit.
Sigh ..... it is obvious that they do not know what to do.