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Tokyo
13 November 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama says a decision on a revised Afghanistan
strategy will come soon, and he vows the United States military
commitment there will not be open-ended. Mr. Obama talked about the
strategy review process in Tokyo where he met with Japanese Prime
Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Questions about the Afghanistan review followed the president across the Pacific.
At
a news conference with Prime Minister Hatoyama, he was asked what more
information he might conceivably need before making a decision.
"I
don't think this is a matter of some datum of information that I'm
waiting on," he said. "It's a matter of making certain that when I send
young men and women into war, and I devote billions of dollars of U.S.
taxpayer money, that it's making us safer."
His military and
civilian advisors have provided the president with a range of options,
and there have been a number of lengthy closed-door meetings at the
White House.
Mr. Obama is said to be considering sending
additional troops to Afghanistan, with reports putting the number at
somewhere between 10,000 and 40,000.
He told reporters in Tokyo
that he will make an announcement soon. And he took on critics who
complain the decision making process has been far too slow.
"They
tend not to be folks who I think are directly involved in what's
happening in Afghanistan," he said. "Those who are recognize the
gravity of the situation and recognize the importance of us getting
this right."
Mr. Obama said once the decision is made he will
make sure the American public fully understands the new war strategy
and all it entails. He said in so doing, he will send a message to the
Afghan people as well.
"It will also I think send a clear
message that our goal here ultimately has to be for the Afghan people
to be able to be in a position to provide their own security, and that
the United States cannot be engaged in an open-ended commitment," he
said.
The president said he will continue to encourage other
countries to contribute to the cause. Japan recently announced it
will no longer refuel ships involved in the U.S.-led war in
Afghanistan. Instead, the new Hatoyama government said it would
provide the Afghan people with $5 billion in civilian aid over five
years.
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