Obama Considers Four Options on Afghan Troop Levels
President Barack Obama is considering four different options on troop levels for Afghanistan but has not decided which he will choose, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.
The president will discuss the options at yet another strategy session with senior military and civilian advisers at the White House on Wednesday. Gibbs sought to knock down reports that suggested Obama has made his decision or is leaning toward a particular option.
“Anybody that tells you that the president has made a decision or … tentatively agreed to [a plan] doesn’t in all honesty have the slightest idea what they’re talking about,— Gibbs asserted.
Whenever the decision is made, the White House has made clear that it is unlikely to be announced until the president returns from a trip to Asia next week, at the very earliest. He leaves for Japan, the first leg of the journey, Thursday.
Obama is traveling today to Fort Hood, Texas, where he will lead a memorial service for those who were killed there last week.
Gibbs said Obama has ordered investigators to make a thorough investigation of the incident.
“The president has asked every agency involved and everybody that would have had some purview over this to investigate why this happened [and] to ensure that they can tell him that it won’t happen again,— Gibbs said. “The investigation is going on to figure out what would motivate the type of act that they major carried out.—