Aide: Obama, Top Officers to Meet On First Day

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Aide: Obama, Top Officers to Meet On First Day

By Jennifer Loven and Charles Babington - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jan 18, 2009 9:41:05 EST

WASHINGTON — On his first full day as president, Barack Obama will meet with high-ranking military officers to discuss the Iraq war, a conflict he has vowed to end after six years of fighting, a top adviser to Obama said Saturday.

Wednesday’s meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other military commanders and aides will fulfill a key campaign promise and bring the war back to the political forefront after months of being overshadowed by the economy.

Especially in the early stages of his two-year campaign, Obama vowed to wind down the war in Iraq, a stance that helped him eclipse Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

In the past year or so, however, Iraq lost prominence in the national debate, and Obama gave himself some wiggle room on his goal of withdrawing U.S. troops within 16 months. He also stressed the need to pump more U.S. military power into Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters control substantial parts of the country.

Speaking of Iraq in July, Obama said: “I intend to end this war. My first day in office, I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in, and I will give them a new mission, and that is to end this war responsibly and deliberately but decisively.”

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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_obama_military_011908/%2e