Pelosi, Obama meet amid Afghan debate

[babylonsister]

Pelosi, Obama meet amid Afghan debate
By Mike Soraghan and Jared Allen - 11/24/09 05:25 PM ET


Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who's said there's little support in Congress for adding troops in Afghanistan, met Tuesday with President Barack Obama, who is expected to ask for a significant buildup next week.

The visit came amid a busy afternoon of consultations between Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. But aides for the speaker and the White House declined to say what the two discussed.

Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said he wouldn't comment on a private meeting between the speaker and the president.

Shortly before the meeting, Obama hinted to reporters that he intends to send more troops, telling reporters at the White House, “My intention is to finish the job.”

Obama is expected to ask for 34,000 more troops in an address to the nation Tuesday, according to news accounts.

That will not sit well with Pelosi's fellow members of the liberal wing of House Democrats, and perhaps not Pelosi either. As far back as September, Pelosi indicated that a strategy of escalation in Afghanistan might not be well received.

“I don't think there's much support for sending more troops to Afghanistan in the country or in Congress,” Pelosi told reporters two months ago, after a request by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan for 40,000 more troops was leaked.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/house/69355-pelosi-obama-meet-amid-afghan-debate