Those who are critical of the time he's taking to decide how many, if any, additional troops to send to Afghanistan aren't directly involved in what's happening in Afghanistan and may not recognize "the gravity of the situation" and "the importance of us getting this right," President Barack Obama just told reporters in Tokyo:

Obama also said he wants to make certain that when he sends young Americans to war, and spends billions of taxpayers' dollars to do that, "It's making us safer":

NPR's coverage of events in Afghanistan begins here.