Obama seeks political middle, sending troops to Afghanistan but setting limits
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President Obama is trying to walk a very tight line on Afghanistan, seeking a political center by ordering more troops to war while setting a limit on their time in harm’s way.
Senior administration officials who requested anonymity briefed reporters on the president’s West Point speech tonight when Obama will lay out his new policy on Afghanistan. Balancing military demands for more troops against political forces in his own party who want a withdrawal, Obama is expected to try to do both. Quicker in and faster out seems to be the president’s mantra.
The president is expected to announce that he has ordered an extra 30,000 troops be sent to Afghanistan and that the deployment will begin within weeks and be completed within months. Originally, the Pentagon had said it would take up 18 months to reach full staffing. His orders would bring the U.S. troop number to more than 100,000 with about an additional 40,000 NATO and allied troops available.
Obama is also expected to say that troops will start leaving in 19 months, by July 2011. But the president will likely refrain from giving a date for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Obama’s leadership style has included trying to find common ground, a political center, as he balances competing interests. For example on the healthcare overhaul, he said he supports a robust public option but was willing to water that down to get a victory from an edgy Congress.
“Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential,” Obama said during the debate over the economic stimulus plan. He has used variations on that quote to explain his position on other domestic issues and his desire to bring people together.
It is also an explanation for how he is dividing the baby in Afghanistan. In a perfect world, Obama wouldn’t have to choose between sending troops and withdrawing. That he does face that problem means his plan for Afghanistan will have to include both.
Tonight’s policy speech comes as the latest poll shows that Americans are far less approving of Obama’s handling of Afghanistan than they have been in recent months.
Taken before the speech, 35% of Americans said they approved of how Obama was handling Afghanistan, down from 49% in September and 56% in July, according to Gallup.
“The decline in Obama’s approval rating on Afghanistan is evident among all party groups, with double-digit decreases since September among Republicans (17 points), independents (16 points), and Democrats (10 points),’ Gallup said.
U.S. to accelerate troops to Afghanistan
-- Michael MuskalTwitter.com/LATimesmuskal