Obama Narrowing Focus On Afghanistan Options

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

On some level, watching the White House right now is a chance to watch one man think. President Obama is listening to many advisors about Afghanistan. In the end, decisions about war strategy belong to the commander-in-chief alone. And day-by-day we are learning more about what the president will and won't do.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly is covering this story.

Mary Louise, good morning.

MARY LOUISE KELLY: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: What's known so far?

KELLY: Well, we're told the president is still making up his mind. But what we know - because his advisors are talking to us - is that the extremes seem to be falling off the table. And by that I mean at one end, the idea that the U.S. might leave Afghanistan, the idea that there might be some sort dramatic troop withdrawal - that's off the table. On the other end of the spectrum, the idea that there might be a dramatic troop escalation is also apparently falling of the table.

Now, in between those two, obviously, you've still got a lot of room to maneuver. But the president is increasingly constrained. On the one hand, poll after poll is showing a majority of Americans oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan. On the other hand, the president is listening to his military commanders, who say if you want to win this, here's what we need - lots more troops in Afghanistan.

So I think what we're hearing is the president trying to move towards some sort of middle ground.

INSKEEP: I want to understand what you're saying, when you say a dramatic escalation's off the table. The commanding general has asked for up to 40,000 troops.

Are you saying it looks like there won't be 40,000 troops but there might be some other middle course here?

KELLY: There is certainly not either political support within the president's party or public support from Americans, for sending 40,000 more troops. So in terms of troop options: yes. General McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, has asked for up to 40,000, but he has given a range of options and listed the risks that would go with each of those.

And we're told that on the lower end of the spectrum, he's asking for a number that's closer to 10,000 or 12,000 additional U.S. troops. Now, obviously you can't get as much done with 12,000 troops as with 40,000, but you can get something done, and that may be where this headed.

It also appears on the strategy side, that they are really trying to narrow this focus down; not abandon the counter insurgency strategy that was laid out last spring, but focus much more tightly on the specific goal of denying al-Qaida a safe haven.

It could mean, as The New York Times is reporting this morning, that you focus more on al-Qaida on the Pakistan side of the border. Which again, is helpful for the president 'cause it means perhaps you need fewer troops on the Afghan side.

INSKEEP: I suppose there's also the question not just to the number of troops or what kinds of troops and what their mission is.

KELLY: Absolutely. So here's what to watch for if we get an announcement that more troops are headed to Afghanistan. Besides just the number of troops, it's what kind. Are they combat troops? Are they troops that are called Trainers? That could be an important distinction, and also where they will send them. Because if you have fewer troops, then you're going to need to focus them more in cities perhaps, as opposed to trying to be everywhere at once.

INSKEEP: So if they're sending - maybe - more troops, but not 40,000; what are the downsides to a middle course strategy like that?

KELLY: Well, I think that the downside is the risk that in trying to make everyone happy, you end up making no one happy. I mean there is a convincing argument that runs: that if you're going to fight a war you should go all in. I mean that's an argument we're hearing, for example, from Republican Senator John McCain. He is one of the congressional leaders who met with the president this week at the White House.

I want to play you a little comment. When he came out afterward, he spoke to reporters on the driveway outside the White House. And here's what he said.

Senator JOHN MCCAIN (Republican, Arizona): Half measures is what I worry about - not getting completely out of Afghanistan. Half measures that lead to failure over time and an erosion of American public support.

KELLY: So Senator McCain in his full comments there, he alluded to mistakes he thinks were made in Iraq: half measures, an erosion of public support, mistakes that clearly nobody wants to make this time around.

INSKEEP: Mary Louise, thanks very much.

KELLY: You're welcome.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.