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Gates: Keep advice on Afghanistan private

U.S. deliberations on how best to proceed in Afghanistan will be among the most important of President Barack Obama’s presidency and should be taken only after advice from civilians and the military has been received “candidly and privately,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday.

Gates, in his keynote address at the 2009 Association of the U.S. Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington D.C., said the trends and increasing violence in Afghanistan was a “worrisome trajectory.” It’s important, he said, that the president takes the time to consider the how best to go forward.

His comment on getting advice to the president “privately” could be interpreted as a knuckle rap for Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whose Afghanistan assessment document was leaked to the press and who made a speech last week in London saying that any strategy that did not go along with his assessment would be “shortsighted”

White House National Security Adviser James Jones said on CNN over the weekend that “ideally, it’s better for military advice to come up through the chain of command.” His comment, combined with Gates’ comments at AUSA, seem to send a signal to McChrystal to rein in the public comments while a strategy for Afghanistan is being worked.

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