Afghan strategy rollout imminent

Posted By Josh Rogin Friday, November 6, 2009 - 8:59 PM Share

There are increasing signs the administration is wrapping up its Afghanistan strategy review and planning a rollout toward the end of the week beginning November 16, immediately after President Obama and other top officials return from Asia.

Reliable sources tell The Cable that the review has entered its final stages, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Advisor Jim Jones now taking the lead and putting on the final touches.

Today, Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke cancelled a planned speaking event scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, at the Women's Foreign Policy Group, "due to unforeseen changes in the speaker's schedule," a group representative said.

And the rest of the President's team is back in town on Thursday, November 19.

The administration sent a team to Brussels this week to consult with all 43 member nations of the International Security Assistance Force, including all 28 NATO nations.

"Their trip will serve to both brief allies on where our efforts stand and to hear their comments and questions about the review," said Michael Hammer, spokesman for the National Security Council.

Meanwhile, certain embassy representatives in Washington have started to receive notice that they will be "consulted" about the Afghan strategy review soon, which some took as a signal that the review was pretty much done and the process of briefing it to stakeholders was beginning.

Hammer said that consultations have been ongoing since the start of the review and cautioned not to read too much into any particular set of meetings. But sources both inside the government and in the larger diplomatic community in Washington are now standing on high alert, preparing for a rollout many feel is imminent.

"We've all been waiting for that call," one Western European diplomat said.


EXPLORE:AFGHANISTAN, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
 

DA BUFFALO AMONGST WOLVES

10:42 PM ET

November 6, 2009

Rollout?

You talk about it like it's the new model year for Chevrolet.

The only way to 'rollout' in Afghanistan is PULLOUT...

ALL THE WAY OUT.

There IS no other 'strategy' that has any hope whatsoever of working, except perhaps working to fatten Lockheed, Silicon Systems, etc, executive's already blood-money bloated wallets.

 

AHSON HASAN

8:06 PM ET

November 8, 2009

Afghan strategy rollout imminent

We've been thoroughly mesmerized by this Afghan mess. As a nation, the people of Afghanistan have always been at daggers drawn with each other. Why is the US trying so hard to improve the lives of the people in that country?

The moment the US forces, whenever in the future, leave Afghanistan, chaos and anarchy will set it. The ethos of the Afghans are rickety and they've been warriors forever. If the grundnorms of a nation are defective, there is no power on G-ds earth that can fix its people.

Also, understood that AfPak was rolled out a few months back that made Pakistan an integral part of the policy, yet, it may be a good idea to pay added importance to Pakistan.

Much of US problems can possibly go away if the Pakistan-related issues are dealt with effectively. Those issues, of course, range anywhere from infiltration of military intelligence personnel into Afghanistan, destabilizing the political environment, exploiting the Pashtun-Hazara divide...

 

SID

3:24 AM ET

November 9, 2009

Rollout Plan for Afghanistan

First thing one tries to determine about a flying plane in the sky is whether it is a friend or foe. After eight long years ISAF is still trying to figure out who are its friends in Af-Pak ploicy. It is too late in the day to realize that all roads to peace & stability in Afghanistan runs from Islamabad, the GHQ of Pakistan Army. It is the ISI, which controls most of the terror agenda in the region and even the world as they provide all the logistics and arms support to Al-Qaeda and all its umbrella groups.

 

MICHAEL DAVENPORT

11:38 AM ET

November 26, 2009

Afghanistan

Let's hope the president does what is right for the country and not appease splinter groups within his own party. American citizens do not care what MoveOn.org thinks. We want our generals on the ground to tell us where the danger is for the USA.

 

ITONLYSTANDSTOREASON

11:04 PM ET

November 9, 2009

Called it!

Pretty much what I predicted in early October as critics argued that Obama would dither for months.

Who was it that leaked the McChrystal report and tried to force the president's hand, shortcutting the policy review process, coincidentally making a hit againts troop morale? Rumor says Gen Jack Keane, US Army Ret., co-author of the Iraq surge plan with R.Kagan. Luckily for him, "no-drama" Obama isn't going to make an issue of it. Some of us will remember.

We're going to see a plan that sets operational priorities in order to continue Obama's commitment to Afghanistan without demanding a huge new deployment that would add further strain to an over-stretched army, which needs the withdrawal of troops from Iraq to begin recovery. (Ft. Hood already has ten suicides per month.) Neither the hawks nor the doves will like it because it won't hue to simplistic ideas about the problems and the possible solutions.

 

John Hudson reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.

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