White House: Obama Considering Four Choices for Afghanistan

Won't Say What Any of Those Choices Actually Are

The White House is disputing claims from over the weekend that President Obama had narrowed down his choices for the escalation in Afghanistan to three choices and that a 34,000 man escalation was the front-runner at the moment.

Instead, Obama has actually narrowed it down to four choices, all of which are officially secret, and that all four choices will be discussed during a secret meeting tomorrow, according to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Gibbs insisted the persistant claims that Obama had made or was close to making a decision came from people who don’t have “the slightest idea what they’re talking about.” The president has been debating escalation for months.

Though Gibbs would give no indication of the size of the various options, all appear to be significant escalations of the number of American troops in Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrystal has sought as many as 80,000 additional troops for the war, though military officials were quick to point out there are nowhere near that many available.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.