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The President and His War Council

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President Barack Obama and his national security team listen to a presentation from Karl W. Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, during a briefing on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Situation Room of the White House Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. (AP/White House)
President Barack Obama and his national security team listen to a presentation from Karl W. Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, during a briefing on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Situation Room of the White House Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. (AP/White House)

Tonight, at West Point, Barack Obama unveils for the nation his plans for Afghanistan. It is a huge moment.

The Obama team has been reading Gordon Goldstein’s history of White House decision-making and Vietnam. He’s with us. And David Ignatius is here, on the back and forth that has gone into this president’s war decision.

More troops, we’re told. More time.

This Hour, On Point: Obama, Afghanistan, and the road to the announcement tonight that will make the war the president’s own.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Jake Tapper is senior White House correspondent for ABC News.

Gordon Goldstein is author of "Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam," which President Obama – and many others at the White House – recently read while developing his administration’s plan for Afghanistan.

David Ignatius is a columnist and associate editor at the Washington Post. He covers global politics, economics and international affairs in his twice-weekly column. His latest book is the novel, “The Increment.”

This program aired on December 1, 2009.

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