Gibbs: Afghanistan Decision "A Number of Weeks Away"

At the White House press briefing today, Robert Gibbs said, "I assume that any decision [on sending more troops to Afghanistan] is a number of weeks away." Later Gibbs added, "We have seen the movie before where you put a bunch of resources in a place and then you decide your strategy. I don't think the output that we've seen in those decisions has altogether been good for this country or for our military."

In his report delivered to President Obama at the end of August, General Stanley McChrystal called for the implementation of a counterinsurgency strategy, which would require more troops in Afghanistan. "Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) -- while Afghan security capacity matures -- risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible," McChrystal wrote.