Washington, October 04: As the rift deepens among NATO allies over the handling of the Afghan war, US President Barack Obama has summoned his top commander in Afghanistan to a 25-minute meeting.
Obama and General Stanley McChrystal met Saturday aboard Air Force One in Copenhagen to discuss the situation in the insurgency-hit Afghanistan and Pakistan.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs noted the pair had met for 25 minutes and McChrystal left the plane before takeoff.
“The president thought the meeting was very productive,” Gibbs said, giving no further details.
The US president was in Copenhagen in an effort to help his hometown Chicago present its bid to host the 2016 Olympics
The meeting followed General McChrystal’s warning that the US-led mission will “likely result in failure” unless more troops are deployed across the war-ravaged country.
However, Obama has expressed skepticism about whether sending more troops without a ‘strategy’ would make a difference in the conflict-torn country.
Canada and several European countries seem to oppose further commitments for the mission in Afghanistan, where insurgency has skyrocketed over the past months.
The mounting number of Western soldiers coming home in body bags has sent support for the war plummeting in Europe, Canada and the United States.
Despite the presence of over 100,000 troops in the war-torn country, Afghanistan is witnessing the highest level of violence since the 2001 invasion.
—–Agencies