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Obama to discuss Af-Pak strategy in situation room
US President Barack Obama would hold his sixth Situation Room meeting with his national security team on Monday to discuss his administrations strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
US President Barack Obama would hold his sixth Situation Room meeting with his national security team on Monday to discuss his administrations strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The meeting at the White House will be attended by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Advisor General (rtd) James Jones, Deputy NSA Tom Donilon, John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security and Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff.
Vice President, Joe Biden, who is in Europe would join the meeting through video conference.
Unlike previous five meetings – each one of which lasted for more than three hours – Monday's meeting is scheduled to last about 75 minutes only.
Also Obama would be discussing the issue only with a small group of half-a-dozen people, unlike previous occasions which was over 16 including the US Ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, is a notable absentee to this crucial meeting.
The Situation Room meeting is part of the overall objective of Obama – as stated by the White House – to find the "right strategy" which works in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
