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View Full Version : More U.S. troops to Afghanistan? Obama's caught in a vise




bobbyw24
09-22-2009, 09:43 AM
By Steven Thomma, Jonathan S. Landay and David Lightman | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — With the military and Republicans publicly pressuring him to send more troops to Afghanistan soon and his own administration now deeply divided about how to proceed there, the eight-year war against al Qaida and the Taliban has become an increasingly urgent policy and political dilemma for President Barack Obama.

He can escalate an unpopular and open-ended war and risk a backlash from his liberal base or refuse his commanders and risk being blamed for a military loss that could tar him and his party as weak on national security.

Obama's decision could be a defining moment of his presidency, and it will reveal much about how he leads. Friends and enemies around the world will be watching — and judging — whether he's firmly in charge or whether he instinctively seeks some safe middle ground.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/75803.html