President Obama met late this morning with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan. While Press Secretary Robert Gibbs wouldn't go into much detail, the group, which does meet regularly to discuss the region, also discussed last week's failed Times Square bombing attempt by Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad. Gibbs characterized the conversation as an opportunity to discusses "where we were" on the investigation.
The national security team met with the President for an hour and 15 minutes in the Situation Room, just a week before Mr Obama is to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Participants in today's closed meeting included:
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State
Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense
Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff
Ambassador Susan Rice, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations
General James L. Jones, National Security Advisor
Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence
Tom Donilon, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
James Steinberg, Deputy Secretary of State
Michele Flournoy, Undersecretary of Defense Policy
Leon Panetta, CIA Director
Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator
Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (via videoconference)
General James E. Cartwright, USMC, Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Anne Patterson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (via videoconference)
Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (via videoconference)
General David Petraeus, Commander, USCENTCOM
General Stanley McChrystal, Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan