Obama Hints He'll Resist McChrystal

Robert Dreyfuss – Mon Sep 21, 5:16 am ET

The Nation -- Contrary to my own expectations, President Obama seems to be hesitant about announcing yet another escalation in Afghanistan.

General McChrystal has thrown down the gauntlet, saying that he needs more troops in the coming year or else the war "will likely result in failure." In his 66-page report, he added:

"Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near term (next 12 months) -- while Afghan security capacity matures -- risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."

But Obama suggested yesterday, during his marathon round of Sunday interviews, that he may not be ready to write McChrystal the blank check that he wants. Obama said that he "is not going to be driven by the politics of the moment," and he said that before he'll add more troops he wants to make sure that the strategy is correct. He said, on CNN:

"Right now, the question is, the first question is, are we doing the right thing? Are we pursuing the right strategy? When we have clarity on that, then the question is, O.K., how do we resource it?"

Click here to read the rest at The Nation.

Technorati Tags: war in afghanistan,general McCrystal,president Obama