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| Afghanistan |
| US Has No Intention of Afghanistan Exit in 2011 |
| 2009-12-06 |
| [Quqnoos] A senior US official Friday said "the US has no intention of leaving Afghanistan in the near future, certainly not in 2011." Gen James Jones, US President Barack Obama's national security advisor, said what Mr Obama actually said was: "After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home." "It's very important to use the right words where this is concerned," he told journalists. "The words 'US troops will leave in 2011' are inaccurate." Gen Jones emphasised on the need for the additional 30,000 US troops in order to destroy "insurgent sanctuaries" along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. While unveiling his revised Afghan strategy last week, Mr Obama said the US troops "will begin to come home" in mid-2011, not clarifying whether all US troops will begin to leave or only the additional 30,000 he has authorised. The new troops will bring the total of US troops to 100,000 in Afghanistan. Nearly 35,000 troops from other NATO countries are also stationed in the country. The popularity of the Afghan mission in troop-contributing countries has significantly decreased due to mounting Taliban-led insurgency and high casualties of foreign troops this year. President Obama also asked other NATO allies to pump in more troops on the ground and the alliance has apparently responded positively, vowing to send an extra 7,000 troops along the new US forces. The Taliban called the new US strategy for Afghanistan "nothing new" and has vowed to further intensify their attacks against the foreign troops. Afghan analysts say that the heavy military footprint is only effective in stabilising Afghanistan, if it is backed by a master plan to tackle corruption and improve good-governance. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Echoes of the "it's only campaign rhetoric" message to Canada... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-12-06 09:56 |
| #1 "After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home." A subtle and lawyerly distinction that will no doubt be lost on the Taliban and pretty much everyone else. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-12-06 08:23 |