Obama security officials meet on Afghanistan

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President Barack Obama today will hold his sixth full session with his National Security Council to focus on what to do next in Afghanistan, amid reports on the growing number of casualties.

The Obama administration is weighing how to define the mission in Afghanistan, now in its ninth year. The United States has authorized 68,000 troops, and generals have asked for up to 40,000 more. NATO has already authorized 40,000, though some are trainers rather than combat troops.

The national security group will include Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and national security advisor Gen. James L. Jones among others. Top field commanders attend via videoconference from Afghanistan.

The issue is how to deal with the resurgent Taliban and the relatively weak central government led by President Hamid Karzai, who faces a runoff election scheduled for Nov. 7. Among the key questions are: Should the United States send more troops to increase security and prevent the Taliban from again taking over the country? Or should the focus be limited to fighting Al Qaeda, now based in neighboring Pakistan?

Today’s session comes after reports that 11 U.S. troops and three American law-enforcement officials were killed in two separate helicopter crashes, one of the war’s heaviest one-day losses for U.S. forces.

Later today, Obama will fly to Florida to address men and women serving in the Navy and Marine Corps at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. He will then delivers remarks at a Democratic fundraising reception and dinner in Miami, where he will spend the night.

--Michael Muskal
twitter.com/latimesmuskal

More details at the Swamp:

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/10/obamas_afghan_dillemma_difficu.html