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As Bloomberg reports, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell confirms. I don’t yet have the full transcript of his press briefing today, but he said that Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s forthcoming 60-day review of the Afghanistan war won’t include any requests for new troops. That’s not because McChrystal won’t request more troops, though:
The Afghanistan assessment will focus on the situation on the ground and the way ahead, Morrell said. But, he added, “it will not offer specific resource requests or recommendations.”
If the review determines that additional resources are required to complete the Afghanistan mission, requests would then go through the normal chain-of-command process, Morrell said, to be validated and forwarded to Gates. Gates then would decide whether to recommend to the president that he commit additional resources for the Afghanistan mission.
I’m tempted to give Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) credit for getting results, but that’s just cheeky. Also, this account of Morrell’s briefing says McChrystal’s report from the 60-day review might not get delivered until the end of the month, but adviser Steve Biddle said last week that the thing was due August 15.
