The Obama administration is weighing the options for Afghanistan. General McChrystal has recommended 40,000 new troops and the neocons, including Dick Cheney have been trying to pressure Obama to follow this recommendation. However recommendations for troop increases is not unanimous:
In an unexpected dissent at a critical moment, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan has warned in classified cables against any further buildup of American forces in the country, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, a retired general and former commander of U.S. forces in the country, said in two cables delivered to the State Department that additional troops would be unwise because of the corruption and ineffectiveness of the Afghan government, officials said.
The advice, sent last week, comes when most signs suggest that President Barack Obama soon will announce plans to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan in hopes of turning the tide against militants.
It also pits Eikenberry against a former military colleague, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, who has told Obama that more than 40,000 troops are needed to stabilize the country.
Yeah, I’d be hesitant too if Dick “wrong about everything” Cheney was the biggest booster of this strategy. Of course I’m still flabbergasted that anyone asks Dick Cheney or anyone else from the Bush administration what should be done about Afghanistan since they are the reason that Afghanistan is such a mess. Remember how they let Bin Laden get away so they could send troops to Iraq to look for weapons that didn’t exist?