Obama to give sharper direction to AFPAK policy

Washington, Aug. 10 (ANI): In a bid to give a sharper direction to the war on terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan, US President Barack Obama will next month send Congress a new plan for measuring the progress of his administration's AFPAK policy.

The administration has already begun seeking feedback on the plan from lawmakers and their staffs.

The finished version is to be delivered to Capitol Hill by September.

"There's an intense impatience here for results, and I think an absolutely understandable impatience among the American people for results. In the course of August, these plans will be complete," a senior administration, was quoted as saying.

"Because we believe the American people deserve clarity on our progress in Afghanistan, we have compiled a comprehensive set of metrics based on the objectives laid out by the president and informed by a stringent intelligence review," he added.

The matrix, referred to as "the SIP" - Strategic Implementation Plan, requests for 21,000 additional troops, reports The Nation.

"The president has approved the movement of those troops, and we're going to track and make sure they arrived. On the civilian side, there's an order of magnitude less than 21,000 civilians who have been requested, and we're going to track their progress," an official said.

Officials say a call for new troops would be a tough sell, both in the Oval Office and on Capitol Hill, but are leaving all their options open.

The document will include specific metrics under nine broad objectives - some of them classified, and divided roughly half for Afghanistan and half for Pakistan.

The list has not been released, but there is a possibility of it being leaked after it goes to lawmakers. (ANI)