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| Afghanistan |
| US to send 20,000 troops to Afghanistan |
| 2008-12-20 |
| THE United States is likely to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the beginning of next summer, according to the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff. Washington is already sending some 3000 extra troops in January and another 2800 by the northen spring, but officials have previously said the number would be made up to 20,000 in the next 12 to 18 months, once approved by the U.S. administration. "Some 20 to 30,000 is the window of overall increase from where we are right now. I don't have an exact number," Admiral Mike Mullen told reporters. "We've agreed on the requirement and so it's really clear to me we're going to fill that requirement so it's not a matter of if, but when," he said. "We're looking to get them here in the spring, but certainly by the beginning of summer at the latest." U.S. Army General David McKiernan has asked for the extra troops to halt a growing Taliban insurgency particularly in the east and south of Afghanistan. President-elect Barack Obama has pledged a renewed focus on Afghanistan, where U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The United States now has some 31,000 troops in Afghanistan, some of them operating independently and some operating as part of a 51,000-strong NATO-led security assistance force. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 The irony is that these will be construction troops, not combat troops. They will be building Afghan infrastructure just like they did in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-12-20 20:38 |
| #2 "Any thought of some of our allies sending troops?" For what purpose? So they can continue to cower behind rules of engagement that prevent them doing anything if someone might get hurt? They probably just get in the way and are more mouths to feed/water without making any real contribution. "Old" Europe has shown itself to be cowards except for (as usual) the Brits and the French special forces. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-12-20 16:48 |
| #1 Any thought of some of our allies sending troops? The Germans, the Poles, the Spanish, the Romanians, why, even the French could do more, if we have to do the transport. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-12-20 15:16 |