U.S. allies receive call from Obama on Afghan war strategy; Biden calls Harper
OTTAWA - A number of world leaders have been personally briefed by U.S. President Barack Obama about the new Afghan war strategy he is expected to roll out tomorrow night.
But Prime Minister Stephen Harper is not one of them. In stead, Harper received a phone call from Vice-President Joe Biden late Monday.
The prime minister has already had a number of extensive discussions on Afghanistan with the president, the most recent at the APEC summit in Singapore, Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister's spokesman said Monday night.
The U.S. president "has a busy schedule" and is not going to be calling people over and over again, Soudas said when asked why Obama did not call Harper personally.
Obama is to outline his plans in a nationally televised address from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y..
He was expected to announce an increase of up to 35,000 more U.S. forces to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilize a weak Afghan government.
The strategy will include laying out a path toward disengagement.
The escalation, which would take place over the next year, would put more than 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan at an annual cost of about $75 billion.
Canada has 2,850 personnel serving in Afghanistan.
No comments:
Post a Comment