A day after soliciting the views of congressional leaders, President Obama is convening top national security officials Wednesday afternoon for a strategy session on Afghanistan and Pakistan amid escalating U.S. casualties in Afghanistan and signs of declining public support for the war there.
As he considers how to deal with a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, Obama has begun reviewing a request for additional U.S. troops from the top U.S. and NATO commander in the country, officials said.
The closed-door meeting in the White House Situation Room comes eight years to the day after the United States began launching airstrikes against Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan in retaliation for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Aided by the airstrikes and small numbers of CIA and Special Forces advisers, U.S.-backed Afghan forces drove the Taliban from power, capturing Kabul on Nov. 13, 2001, and ending the radical Islamist movement's five-year rule. About two weeks later, U.S. ground forces began pouring in, beginning a buildup that now amounts to nearly 68,000 U.S. troops, plus about 37,000 from other NATO countries.
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