http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/01/obamas-war-council-divided-afghan-strategy/

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Obama's War Council Divided on Afghan Strategy

Defense Secretary Robert Gates worries that U.S. counterinsurgency might no 
longer be a viable approach for countering the Taliban violence roiling 
once-stable parts of Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is confronting a split among his 
closest advisers on Afghanistan, reflecting divisions in his own party over 
whether to send in thousands more U.S. troops and complicating his efforts 
to adopt a war policy he can sell to a public grown weary of the 8-year-old 
conflict.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the discussion focused on the 
political and security situation on the ground, according to an 
administration official, with military commanders detailing the gains made 
by the insurgency and top diplomats discussing the Afghan election results 
that were marred by fraud claims.

In an interview with the Journal, a senior defense official said that 
Defense Secretary Robert Gates now worries that counterinsurgency might no 
longer be a viable approach for countering the Taliban violence roiling 
once-stable parts of north and west Afghanistan.

Gates, a Bush administration holdover, has emerged as one of Obama's most 
trusted advisers, so his views carry significant weight in the 
deliberations.

"Even 40,000 more troops don't give you enough boots on the ground to 
protect the Afghans if the north and west continue to deteriorate," the 
official said. "That may argue for a different approach."

A shift in Gates's thinking would be particularly striking because he has 
long been a major advocate of counterinsurgency

Jones told senators in a classified briefing after the White House meeting 
that the administration's evolving Afghanistan strategy depends in large 
part on the outcome of the disputed Afghan election.

"It's not just the election but the reaction to the election that we'll be 
watching for," said Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island.

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