Obama pledges to ‘finish the job’ in Afghanistan
November 25th, 2009 - 9:25 am ICT by IANS
Washington, Nov 25 (DPA) US President Barack Obama said Tuesday he will “finish the job” in Afghanistan, as he contemplates a new strategy for the country that he is expected to announce “shortly”.
Obama has refused to be pinned down on when he intends to outline the plan after holding weeks of discussions with his war council, the latest of which took place Monday evening. US media reported Tuesday he will do so in a prime time address Dec 1.
“I will be making an announcement to the American people about how we intend to move forward. I will be doing so shortly,” Obama said during a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Obama’s thinking on Afghanistan has been tightly kept quiet by the White House, including on whether he’ll grant the request from his top commander in Afghanistan for an additional 40,000 troops.
The war in Afghanistan has continued to go badly since Obama took office in January. The rate of US deaths has grown steadily while public support for the war has been shrinking.
“I’ve also indicated that, after eight years, some of those years in which we did not have … either the resources or the strategy to get the job done, it is my intention to finish the job,” Obama said.
“I feel very confident that when the American people hear a clear rationale for what we’re doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals, that they will be supportive,” he added.
General Stanley McChrystal wants an additional 40,000 troops on top of the 68,000 already there to ramp up counterinsurgency efforts to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
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