Obama not reducing Afghan troops
President Obama has announced that he will not be removing or reducing troop numbers in Afghanistan.
However it is not clear if he intends to increase the number of troops either, as the top general in Afghanistan wants.
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The President is making it clear that leaving Afghanistan is not an option, it's not on the table. According to one White House source, he told the meeting that he wouldn't shrink the number of troops in Afghanistan or opt for a strategy of merely targeting al-Qaeda leaders. But he wouldn't be drawn on the military request for more troops.
There appears to be a frustration that the review of strategy has sometimes been portrayed in black-and-white terms of a massive increase or reduction of troop numbers.
President Obama told the group made up of the most senior Republican and Democrat senators and congressmen that his assessment would be "rigorous and deliberate". But it's going on too long for some Republicans and members of the President's own party are dubious about committing more resources and military personnel to a conflict where there is no end in sight. The word 'Vietnam' is heard more and more on Capitol Hill.
The President was certainly right when he said his final decision wouldn't make everyone in the room, or the country, happy.
Mark Mardell, BBC News, Washington
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azalmak, küçülmek
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bu konuyu tartışmadı, değinmeyi reddetti
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...den oluşan
kapsamlı ve düşünülüp taşınılmış
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