Gates to Army: We’ll follow Obama’s orders on Afghanistan

The fact that this even needs to be said by Gates is of tremendous significance.

Amid tension between the military and President Barack Obama over military action in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a gathering of Army officers Monday that the Pentagon would follow any strategy that Obama orders.

“Speaking for the Department of Defense, once the commander in chief makes his decisions, we will salute and execute those decisions faithfully and to the best of our ability,” Gates told the Association of the U.S. Army in Washington.

Gates’ comments seemed to include a rebuke to Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Last week, McChrystal appealed for more troops during a speech before the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, calling current White House consideration of proposals that would not increase U.S. troop strenght in Afghanistan “short-sighted.”

On Monday, Gates said that military and civilian advisors should provide “our best advice to the president candidly — but privately.”

U.S. military officers, both in Washington and Afghanistan, recently have expressed growing frustration with the administration and its prolonged debate over policy in Afghanistan. The administration is now reconsidering its strategy just months after it named McChrystal as its commander there, calling him the best military mind the United States has to fight a counterinsurgency war. McChrystal has asked for as many as 45,000 troops, but the White House said it needs weeks to consider that request, with some suggesting the United States may redefine its goals there all together. In an assessment submitted to the Pentagon, McChrystal that found the effort there could fail without more troops.

Source/Full Story: McClatchy
Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, Robert Gates

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