V.P. Biden warned President Obama about the Pentagon. Obama writes in A Promised Land that he had his first National Security Council meeting two days after he was inaugurated in 2009. Led by Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, the generals told Obama they wanted an immediate 30,000 troop increase in Afghanistan.
"Just so I understand, after almost five years where we managed with twenty thousand or fewer U.S. troops, and after adding another ten thousand over the past twenty months or so, it's the Pentagon's assessment that we can't wait another two months [for a review study of Afghanistan] before deciding to double our troop commitment?" (emphasis in original) (A Promised Land, Obama 482-3)
In the meeting, Obama writes "only Joe Biden voiced his misgivings...[He was] convinced...that we needed to rethink our entire approach to Afghanistan...he...urged me to delay a deployment..." (484)
After the meeting,
"...I headed out the door and was on my way up the stairs to the Oval when Joe caught up to me and gripped my arm.
"'Listen to me, boss," he said. 'Maybe I've been around this town for too long, but one thing I know is when these generals are trying to box in a new president.' He brought his face a few inches from mine and stage-whispered, 'Don't let them jam you.'" (485) Obama ended up committing 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.
Fair to say POJO didn't let the generals jam his ass today.
