Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

That stance comes in the midst of forceful reservations about a possible troop buildup from the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official.

In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Obama is still close to announcing his revamped war strategy -- most likely shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19...

Washington (AP) - Sen. John McCain is pressing President Barack Obama to make a decision quickly on sending additional troops to Afghanistan, saying U.S allies are nervous and military commanders are frustrated.

McCain said in a nationally broadcast interview Wednesday that the war policy in Afghanistan "as been reviewed time and again" and that it's now time to act.

Interviewed on CBS's "The Early Show," the Arizona Republican said the drawn-out decision-making process on Afghanistan "is not helpful to our effort" in the wartorn nation...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- President Obama pledged on Monday not to "rush the solemn decision" to send more troops to battle in Afghanistan as he weighs military options on what to do next in the troubled war.

"I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary," Obama told service men and women at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. He promised a "clear mission" with defined goals and the equipment needed to get the job done.

Obama, who is in the process of weighing options put forward by the Pentagon that include various levels of increased troops, spoke of the latest example of the dangers and sacrifices there -- helicopter crashes that killed 14 Americans in the deadliest day for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan in more than four years...

(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration and former Vice President Dick Cheney continued their verbal jousting Thursday, as White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs accused the Bush administration of not taking seriously requests to increase troops in Afghanistan.

The strong words from Gibbs came the day after Cheney delivered yet another withering critique of the administration on foreign and national security policy on a number of fronts, including what he called President Barack Obama’s “dithering” on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. The U.S. top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has asked for an additional 40,000 troops...

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan's president is downplaying accusations of widespread fraud in his country's recent elections, but he's emphasizing the importance of a runoff for the sake of ensuring peace and stability in his nascent and war-torn democracy.

"We must have a second round," said Hamid Karzai, speaking in a taped and exclusive interview for the Fareed Zakaria GPS show that airs Sunday on CNN. "If we don't do that, we would be insulting democracy. And I pledge to respect the vote of the people."

In the first interview since a runoff was announced, Karzai said there were so many claims of widespread corruption in the election two months ago that he started to believe that the voting was fraud-laden. In fact, he said, he too began to doubt the results...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After dialing back his attacks on President Obama's foreign policy, former Vice President Dick Cheney says the administration has damaged U.S. ties with key allies, dangerously wavered in Afghanistan, undermined progress in Iraq and sabotaged the Bush administration's national security legacy.

In a hard-hitting, wide-ranging speech Wednesday for a conservative gathering, Cheney targeted the administration's decision-making process on how to proceed in Afghanistan, saying Obama has failed to give troops on the ground a clear mission or defined goals and appeared "afraid to make a decision."

"The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in danger," Cheney said at the Center for Security Policy. "Make no mistake, signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries"...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama has not yet determined whether he will make a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the November 7 election runoff, a US official said Tuesday.

"The UN, NATO, the US stand ready to assist the Afghans in conducting the second round," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"Whether or not the president makes a decision before that I don't think has been determined.

"I have continued to say a decision will be made in the coming weeks as the president goes through an examination of our policy," he added...

Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, said the White House would be committing "an error of historic proportions" if it doesn't accede to Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's request for tens of thousands more troops in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California upped the pressure for a major Afghanistan troop surge from the Democratic side, saying it makes no sense to stay in Afghanistan and not grant the general the forces he says are necessary.

Mr. McCain said he doesn't think the United States can win in Afghanistan unless President Obama sends at least 40,000 more troops to augment the 68,000 scheduled to be there by year's end - as suggested by Gen. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top defense and diplomacy advisers said the United States retains the Afghanistan war goal that he outlined just two months into his presidency — to sideline al-Qaida — but changing circumstances require a reassessment of how to get there.

A "snap decision" on whether to add more U.S troops would be counterproductive, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday.

Whatever the president decides, the military will salute, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said...

An organization that supports American troops and their families is appalled that The Associated Press published the photograph of a dying U.S. Marine in Afghanistan, against the wishes of his family.

On August 14, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade during a Taliban ambush in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. An AP photographer embedded with Bernard's unit photographed the Marine after he suffered severe leg injuries. He was evacuated to a field hospital where he later died on the operating table.

AP waited until after Bernard's funeral to distribute its story and the picture. An AP reporter met with Bernard's parents, allowing them to see the image. But when Bernard's father saw the photo, he opposed its publication, saying it was disrespectful to his son's memory...