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Washington » Most of Utah's federal lawmakers say President Barack Obama should follow the advice of his top military commanders and commit tens of thousands of new troops to the increasingly deadly and unpopular war in Afghanistan.
But that opinion is not universally held among even the Republican members of Congress from Utah, mirroring the private debate now taking place inside the White House.
For weeks, Obama and his national security team have reviewed the strategy on the 8-year-old war, with the most recent discussion taking place Monday morning in the Situation Room.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has called for a massive troop expansion as part of a rededicated counter-insurgency strategy. He said without those troops, the fight might be lost.
But others within the administration and particularly within the Democratic Party argue that the cost of the continued fight is too high. They favor targeted strikes against the strongholds of a resurgent Taliban and al Qaida and a reduction in the overall U.S. military presence.
Obama's decision will be a defining moment in his administration and greatly impact how long the United States will continue to fight in what is already known as the Long War.
Utah GOP Rep. Rob Bishop says the worst decision the president can make is making no decision at all.
"Where we are
McChrystal has said he believes the United States has a one-year window to regain the momentum in Afghanistan. He wants as many as 40,000 additional troops to make the country more secure for the people of Afghanistan, buying time for the country's troubled government and fledgling military to find its footing. The United States already has 65,000 troops in the country.
McChrystal hopes his strategy would mirror the result in Iraq. When the people felt safe, they started working against al Qaida and the insurgency.
"We can't get them on our side to defeat the Taliban until they have faith that the United States will actually be there to back them up," said Bishop, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
He believes McChrystal's strategy will do that, but is open to other alternatives.
"If there is another way to do that short of sending more troops -- cool. I don't know what it would be though," Bishop said.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah's newest member of Congress, remains conflicted about the way forward in Afghanistan, a country he visited earlier this year as part of a congressional delegation.
"I'm not playing games. I am truly undecided. I don't know what victory looks like over there," he said. "I consider myself a hawk, but it doesn't mean you use your military in every scenario."
Chaffetz, a Republican, said he likes the idea of more surgical military strikes on Taliban and al Qaida fighters.
"Adding tens of thousands of additional troops shouldn't be the default answer," he said. "I don't know that it would be a total failure to come home."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said withdrawal is not an option being discussed by the White House. During a NATO conference last week, Gates said he doesn't anticipate a reduction in U.S. forces in Afghanistan, though he has yet to give Obama his recommendation on troop levels.
The president is expected to make a decision before the Nov. 7 run-off election between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. The first vote was marred by widespread fraud, complicating Obama's decision.
A recent Washington Post -ABC News poll showed that 47 percent of respondents backed the troop buildup, while 49 percent opposed it.
But the president campaigned on a refocused fight in Afghanistan, noted Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah. If Obama nixes McChrystal's plan, he would have to explain himself.
While Bennett says he hasn't received the same briefings as the president, McChrystal's counterinsurgency plan, requiring more American troops, "certainly makes sense to me."
For Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the choice is clear.
"He ought to listen to his generals," Hatch said "He handpicked McChrystal. He ought to listen to him."
Hatch expects the president will send the additional troops, even if it isn't very popular with the public and upsets his more liberal supporters in Congress.
"That's what the top experts that he handpicked -- who are very, very good -- said has to be," Hatch said.
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, said he isn't sure what the strategy should be, but the first step is defining what the United States wants to achieve there in the long run. Is it rebuilding a secure nation or stamping out terrorism, or both?
"What's appropriate for policy and what's realistic? I'm not sure we have that yet," Matheson said.
