Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 12/14/2010
2:15 P.M. EST
MR. GIBBS: Good afternoon. Let’s -- let me do a quick readout from the President’s Afghanistan meeting -- Pakistan meeting this morning.
President Obama met for nearly two hours with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the beginning of the meeting, President Obama and Secretary Clinton reaffirmed the great debt that the administration and the American people owe to Richard Holbrooke and noted the extraordinary expressions of respect from Ambassador Holbrooke’s life, demonstrated -- demonstrate the legacy that he’s built over 50 years of service to his country.
Both General Petraeus and Ambassador Eikenberry noted that many Afghans had expressed their condolences to Ambassador Holbrooke’s family to them over the course of the past day.
The President then reviewed the findings of the draft national security staff-led report on the progress that has been made in implementing our strategy, focusing on the three different components of the review: al Qaeda senior leadership, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In each area, the President and his team discussed both the progress that has been made as well as areas for additional focus moving forward.
The President directed his team to finalize the report, while also continuing to address the range of issues discussed in the report as we head into 2011.
The President will provide an update on our strategy to the American people on Thursday as he presents the findings of the review, along with members of his senior national security team.
