Politics

Updated October 13, 2009

Obama: Decision on Afghanistan Expected in 'Coming Weeks'

AP

President Obama said Tuesday that decisions on the military front were important but just one aspect of the improvements needed to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. 

WASHINGTON -- President Obama said Tuesday he will decide on new troops for Afghanistan in "the coming weeks."

He told reporters that decisions on the military front were important but just one aspect of the improvements needed to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. He said an important element is building up civilian capacity to help improve Afghanistan's governance, agriculture, rule of law and other areas.

The president responded during a briefing meeting with reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Later, spokesman Robert Gibbs rejected a published report that the president had authorized 13,000 additional troops that were now arriving in Afghanistan. He said those troops were part of a deployment ordered by the former Bush administration, but had not made their way to the Afghan theater by the time Obama became president. The Washington Post had reported those forces were authorized by Obama.

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