President Obama plans to announce details of his strategy for the war in Afghanistan early next week in an address to the nation. Here’s a look at today’s developments as they unfold at the White House and beyond.
Greetings | 11:29 a.m. President Obama welcomed India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington, the first of several events that will culminate tonight at a State Dinner at the White House.
The two leaders are set to hold a news conference in the East Room at 11:30 a.m., where the conversation will undoubtedly turn to Afghanistan. A major topic of the discussion between the two will be Pakistan, a longtime rival to India and the country that the United States strategically needs in its escalating fight with Afghanistan.
“Our nations are two global leaders, driven not to dominate other nations but to build a future of security and prosperity for all nations,” Mr. Obama said during welcoming remarks earlier today at the White House.
Mr. Singh returned the kind words, saying: “India and America are separated by distance, but bound together by the values of democracy, pluralism, rule of law, and respect for fundamental human freedoms.”
Deliberations Completed | 08:30 a.m. President Obama has conducted a final meeting on his military review for Afghanistan, administration officials said, and he is planning to explain his decision in an address to the nation next Tuesday.
“After completing a rigorous final meeting, President Obama has the information he wants and needs to make his decision, and he will announce that decision within days,” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Tuesday morning.
For two hours on Monday evening, Mr. Obama held his ninth meeting in the Situation Room with his war council. The session began at 8:13 p.m., aides said, and ended at 10:10 p.m.
Mr. Obama’s military and national security advisers came back to him with answers he had requested in previous meetings, most of which focused on these questions: Where are the off-ramps for the military? And what is the exit strategy?
The conversation settled around sending about 30,000 more American troops, two officials said, the first of which would deploy early next year to be in place in southern or eastern Afghanistan by the spring. The troop reinforcements would most likely be sent in waves, according to an official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss war strategy.
Mr. Obama did not announce his specific decision to his advisers. He is scheduled to stay at the White House over the Thanksgiving holiday to finalize his decision, as the White House plans to prepare for what could be Mr. Obama’s first prime-time address to the nation from the Oval Office.
But the venue of the announcement has not been decided. While an Oval Office address fits the gravity of the moment, one official said Tuesday that a full-length speech – rather than a short message, delivered as the president sits behind a desk – is a more likely way for Mr. Obama to explain one of the most important decisions yet in his presidency.
A growing part of the discussion at the White House is the cost of sending more troops to Afghanistan, as detailed in an article by Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper in Tuesday’s Times.
For the first time, Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, joined the group of advisers in the Situation Room on Monday evening.
A photograph released by the White House shows Mr. Orszag sitting four seats away from the president, next to Susan Rice, the United States ambassador to the United Nations.
As the White House prepares for how Mr. Obama will explain his decision to the nation, the president is trying to allay deep concerns inside his own party.
The first in a series of meetings with Congressional leaders comes on Tuesday, when Mr. Obama plans to meet at 3:10 p.m. in the Oval Office with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That meeting is to be followed by a private session with Mr. Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates at 4:30 p.m.
The White House is preparing for the president’s announcement to take place next Tuesday evening, aides said, which would probably be followed by hearings in the House and Senate. But the date could be changed, one official said, depending on briefings with Congress and allied leaders.
While Mr. Obama is expected by several of his advisers to announce sending more than 20,000 new troops – perhaps closer to the 40,000, as recommended by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal – the White House is working to make the announcement more than about simply the number of troops. It will include an outline of an exit strategy, officials said.
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