OF2-10/30/09 7:25 AM
OBAMA, THE JOINT CHIEFS, AND AFGHANISTAN.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
As the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Military, President Obama meets today with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon's board of directors. This could be a pivotal meeting, as the President decides on the future of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters yesterday...
SOT - Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary
"This was a meeting requested by the President to see the Joint Chiefs --- and to have a chance to talk to them and to other service branches about the ongoing assessment in Afghanistan and Pakistan." (:11)
Not just an "assessment," but a decision, should be forthcoming soon. About that, after this...
((( SPOTS )))
Yesterday morning, President Obama got up in the middle of the night to go to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware --- to be there at the arrival of the bodies of 18 Americans killed this week in Afghanistan.
SOT - President Barack Obama
"It was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day --- not only our troops, but their families as well. Obviously, the burden that both our troops and our families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts --- and it is something that I think about each and every day." (:30)
So, at today's meeting with the Joint Chiefs, says defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon of The Brookings Institution, he wants not only to explain his objectives --- but to learn from them.
SOT - Michael O'Hanlon, defense analyst at The Brookings Institution
"Most people in uniform recognize the complexity of the mission, understand the need for this kind of scrutiny..." (:07)
He may have some answers for them, says O'Hanlon --- and some questions.
SOT - Michael O'Hanlon
"I think he's asking the right kind of questions. We'll just have to see what kind of answer he comes up with in the end." (:04)
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. October 30th, 2009. |
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