The New Media Journal | Obama Delays Afghanistan Troop Decision as Criticism Deepens

The New Media Journal | Obama Delays Afghanistan Troop Decision as Criticism Deepens: "President Barack Obama said he’ll hold off deciding whether to add more US troops to the war in Afghanistan, as Democratic lawmakers raised concerns that he lacks a clear plan and measures of progress.

“You have to get the strategy right and then make the determinations about resources,” Obama told reporters at the White House yesterday following a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “I am going to take a very deliberate process in making those decisions.”

Senator John Kerry led expressions of doubt on Capitol Hill after administration officials briefed lawmakers in closed sessions yesterday on an assessment by the top US military officer in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal. The reviews also covered gauges the administration has developed to track progress on the political and security fronts.

“At the very moment when our troops and our allies’ troops are sacrificing more and more, our path and our progress seem to be growing less and less clear,” Kerry said at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and Vietnam veteran who heads the panel, said he is concerned about the utility of adding more forces to the war."