Obama meets with new Afghan team
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Xinhua, July 6, 2011
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday met with top military and civilian officials of his revamped Afghan team.
Obama met at the White House with Ryan Crocker, the new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, and Lieutenant General John Allen, his choice to replace David Petraeus as the next Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, to discuss the way forward in the country, the White House said in a statement.
Crocker was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, while Allen is still waiting confirmation by the full Senate.
Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also joined the meeting.
"The President and his team discussed implementation of the next phase of our strategy in Afghanistan, including consolidation of the gains that have been made in breaking the Taliban's momentum and training Afghan Security Forces; the reduction of U.S. troop levels that the President announced last month; and the process of transitioning lead security responsibility to the Afghan government," the statement said.
Obama unveiled his long-expected plan to draw down troops from Afghanistan last month. Under the timetable, 10,000 troops will be pulled out from the country by year end, and a total of 33,000 troops will be out by next summer, fully recovering the surge troops the president announced late 2009.
