FORT WORTH — Retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the four-star who oversaw the initial invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq, doesn't believe that the central question facing President Barack Obama in Afghanistan is how many troops might be needed in the coming months.
What is required, Franks said during a visit to Fort Worth sponsored by a conservative think tank, is a national strategy for Afghanistan, not a troop count. That decision, he said, does require some soul-searching because it is not fair to ask young men and women in uniform to die for an ill-defined goal.
"We don't need the president to decide whether to send 40,000 more people or 60,000 more people," Franks said. "What we need is for the president to define the desired end-state for Afghanistan. We need to have a national objective. What do you want?"
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