Obama weighing more troops for Afghan war

AFP
Thursday, April 2, 2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama faces a decision later this year whether to send an extra 10,000 US troops to Afghanistan, amid an escalating war against Islamist insurgents, defense officials said.

A top general and senior Pentagon official disclosed on Wednesday for the first time details of a pending request from the US commander in Afghanistan for yet more troops for a war that has already lasted more than seven years.

“What the president was told is that the request (for more troops) is out there, but he doesn’t have to make a decision until the fall so that the troops would arrive as planned in 2010,” Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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The US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, would “reassess” his request later in the year, she added.

General David Petraeus, the US Central Command chief, said he had approved the troop request but that the Defense Department had not yet formally passed it on to the White House.

Defense officials had previously said McKiernan requested about 30,000 additional troops and that recent decisions by Obama had met his requests for 2009.

The 38,000-strong US contingent in Afghanistan is due to expand to about 68,000 troops by the end of the year, Flournoy said. About 32,000 other foreign allied forces are also deployed there under NATO authority.

Full story here.

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7 Responses to “Obama weighing more troops for Afghan war”

1. MagnusXO Says:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 1:51 pm

   Both Presidents that took us into World Wars 1 and 2, during their election campaigns, urged the voters to choose the candidate that would keep their sons OUT of wars. Didn’t this President say the same thing? Yet under his command, we seem to be more engaged in military conflict than before he took office. More troops and an even broader offensive. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be a parallel.

2. Michael Says:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 pm

   Is Obama any different than the warmonger Bush?

3. ben Says:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 2:38 pm

   the soldiers are there to protect the OPIUM, that’s all folks

   

   Norman Reply:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 9:29 pm

   ben,

   I have been saying this a long time. I have heard that a gram of pure heroin takes about a dollar to manufacture in Afghanistan, but the selling price in the Industrial Nations is about $1000 per gram (that could be correct since a 5 mg dose is equivalent to one hit and you have 200 doses in a gram or about $5 per hit).

   More Troops are needed because the Taliban is raiding the Opium farms on motorcycles to grab some of what used to be their “stash” but if messes with the Supply/Demand equation.

4. Charles Says:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 3:32 pm

   Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…

   Obama is different, he’s young and black… other than those physical difference, him and Bush are almost the same… Bush did at least let the assault weapons ban die… and Obama brought it back, and wants to make it permanent, give you 2 guesses who I think is worse.

5. Notorious Kelly Says:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm

   I guess the money for these wars is all coming from abroad, so are our troops just Chinese mercenaries?

6. Misha Says:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 8:36 pm

   “In a war which involves such a huge army, the main objective should be a quick victory. If the war is prolonged, the weapons will be blunted and the men’s morale will be dampened. ………. Protracted campaigns will be a serious drain on the treasury. Now, when your weapons are blunted, your morale dampened, your strength exhausted and your treasury spent, neighbouring states will take advantage of your distress to strike. In that case, NO ONE, however wise, will be able to avert the disastrous consequences which ensue.”
   This is a translation of words written by Wu Sunzi around 2,500 years ago; these words have no less meaning and relevance today as they did then. In a nutshell; by trying to ensure the USA’s dominance in the world, the US Military Industrial complex’s maniacal drive for continued existence has actually ensured nothing but the demise of that once great nation. Fortunately my grandson will live in a world no longer made a living hell by the machinations of the Evil Empire.