WASHINGTON — As it reviews its Afghanistan policy for the second time this year, the Obama administration has concluded that the Taliban cannot be eliminated as a political or military movement, regardless of how many combat forces are sent into battle.
The Taliban and the question of how the administration should regard the Islamist movement have assumed a central place in the policy deliberations underway at the White House, according to administration officials participating in the meetings.
Based on a stark assessment by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, and six hours of debate among the senior national security staff so far, the administration has established guidelines on its strategy to confront the group.
At least weaken Taliban
The goal, senior administration officials said Thursday, is to weaken the Taliban to the degree that it cannot challenge the Afghan government or re establish the haven it provided for al-Qaeda before the 2001 U.S. invasion. Those objectives appear largely consistent with McChrystal’s strategy, which centers on persuading the population to support the government.
Obama identified al-Qaeda as the chief target of his Afghan policy in March. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that “there is clearly a difference between an entity that, through a global, transnational jihadist network, would seek to strike the U.S. homeland” and the Taliban.
While some White House officials are advocating an approach in Afghanistan focused first on al-Qaeda, some senior military leaders have endorsed McChrystal’s call to vastly expand the war effort against insurgents, including those from the Taliban. The general is seeking tens of thousands of additional troops to carry out his strategy, and Obama will take up the specifics of that request for the first time today during a meeting at the White House with his national security team.
In his 66-page assessment of the war, McChrystal warns that the next 12 months will likely determine whether U.S. and international forces can regain the initiative from the Taliban.
Biden: No more troops
Asked how many troops would be needed to weaken the Taliban to an acceptable degree, the senior administration official said: “That’s the question. That’s the sweet spot we’re looking for.”
About 68,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors are already scheduled to be on the ground there by the end of the year.
Arguing that additional troops would provide the Taliban with a propaganda victory, Vice President Joe Biden and some other senior White House officials have pushed an alternative. They have outlined a plan that would maintain current combat troop levels, speed up training of Afghan forces, intensify Predator strikes against al-Qaeda operatives, and help the nuclear-armed government of Pakistan to counter the Taliban within its borders.
The White House has told McChrystal to delay a planned trip here today to brief Obama.
Officials had hoped to have McChrystal and what national security adviser James Jones called “all the key players” speak to Obama in person by the end of this week.
But “we’re not finished,” Jones said Thursday, and meetings may extend beyond next week.
