Secretary Clinton & Afghanistan

Secretary Clinton will be heading to the Hill (House Foreign Relations Committee) on Wednesday to testify about the administration’s new Afghanistan policy. Apparently, President Obama called Secretary Clinton on Sunday to inform him of his final decision. From CNN:

President Obama has informed several top diplomatic and military officials about his decision regarding new U.S. strategy and troop levels in Afghanistan, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Obama called Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday to tell her about his decision, Gibbs said. The president later met in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, top U.S. Middle East military commander Gen. David Petraeus and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, among others.

Obama also informed his top military commander in Afghanistan — Gen. Stanley McChrystal — and Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Kabul.

Obama gave orders to implement the new strategy during the Oval Office meeting, Gibbs said.

On Tuesday, Obama will travel to West Point, New York, to announce his decision on a request by McChrystal for up to 40,000 additional troops.

Obama is expected to send more than 30,000 U.S. troops and seek further troop commitments from NATO allies as part of a counterinsurgency strategy to wipe out al Qaeda elements and stabilize the country while training Afghan force.

[snip]

Clinton, meanwhile, has been working the phones since Thanksgiving to brief her counterparts on the plans, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Monday.

Kelly said the secretary’s goal was not to brief them on specifics of the new strategy, “because, of course, that’s being rolled [Tuesday],” but to give them the “general outlines” of what Obama will announce Tuesday night.

Clinton made 10 calls to foreign ministers on Thanksgiving and has made several other calls since. Kelly would not say whether she pressed any of those governments to commit more troops but said most of the discussions were about the need for “coordinating our efforts.”

Speaking on background because of the sensitivity of the issue, a senior administration official said he thought Clinton “got a positive response” from calls to foreign ministers from countries that already are contributing troops to Afghanistan.

…

And then it’s more travel- to NATO later in the week. From Laura Rozen:

The president also spoke Sunday afternoon with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to Gibbs. Clinton plans to travel to Europe later this week to meet with NATO leaders during a previously scheduled conference.

She’s really racking up those frequent flier miles lately. I don’t know how she doesn’t have permanent jet lag (although according to that Vogue article, she doesn’t get jet lag!).

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