Telegram - UK - "White House split over more troops for Afghanistan"

[TomCADem]

It is always interesting to get an overseas perspective on foreign policy. I know many folks have their minds made up on this issue, but President Obama is going to have another set of tough decisions to make with Joe Biden against adding more troops and Hillary Clinton/Richard Holbrooke supporting additional troops:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6175368/White-House-split-over-more-troops-for-Afghanistan.html

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On this vital question, Mr Biden is sharply at odds with Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state.. He strongly opposes any large increase in US combat forces in Afghanistan, while Mrs Clinton has called for reinforcements, with the support of the Pentagon.

Mr Biden argues that escalating the fight against the Taliban using US troops would play into al-Qaeda's hands by stirring popular resentment and destabilising neighbouring Pakistan. It would also be politically damaging at home, where the American public is increasingly unwilling to tolerate high casualties.

The row is coming to a head as Mr Obama prepares to decide on the troop levels he believes are required to fulfill his election promise of wiping out the threat from al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. This debate mirrors the deep divisions within many European governments - and among their respective publics - over the same question.

General Stanley McChrystal, the new American commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, has submitted his classified assessment of the war to the White House. This is understood to lay out future options, ranging from sending 10,000 to 40,000 additional soldiers.

Gen McChrystal has privately made clear that he believes the greatest risk attaches to holding back on the reinforcements. What he considers the minimal option of sending between 10,000 and 15,000 more troops is also the riskiest choice, he argues.

Mr Obama, who ordered another 17,000 combat soldiers and 4,000 military trainers to Afghanistan within weeks of taking office, will be loath to reject his new commander's advice and risk being branded weak on national security by the Republicans.

An official described the row between the president's advisers as "a necessary and healthy debate". It comes as senior Democrats in Congress have publicly opposed sending more US soldiers. "I don't think there's a great deal of support for sending more troops to Afghanistan, in the country or in the Congress," said Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one of the most senior Democrats in Congress, who is also known as a close ally of Mr Obama.

Mr Biden, whose long experience of foreign policy is one of his key qualifications for the post, has long been critical of President Hamid Karzai's leadership in Afghanistan. His position has been boosted by the mounting evidence of widespread fraud in the recent presidential election.

But Richard Holbroke, Mr Obama's special representative to the region, argues that extra combat troops are needed to protect civilians from the Taliban.

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