Sending 40,000 Troops Portrayed as "Middle Option"

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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October 09, 2009

Sending 40,000 Troops Portrayed as "Middle Option"

ABC News reports that President Obama was presented with three options on Afghanistan by his military commanders and that sending an additional 40,000 troops -- which was recommended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal -- is described the "middle option."

The Wall Street Journal reports a more extreme possibility is sending an additional 60,000 troops. The third option, described by his advisers as "high risk," was sending no additional forces.

It's probably safe to assume this was leaked to prepare the American public for sending additional troops and show the president as taking the middle ground.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

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Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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October 09, 2009