Obama to Announce New Afghanistan Troop Increase
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Afghanistan, Terrorism, War
Looks like President Obama isn’t the reactionary pacifist some of his critics (and supporters) thought he was. Tomorrow, the administration is expected to announce a major increase in forces in Afghanistan.
Confronting an inherited and faltering war, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on top of the 17,000 combat troops he has already ordered, senior administration officials said Thursday.
Obama’s war strategy, which will he announce on Friday, includes no timeline for withdrawal of troops. The war began more than seven years ago.
As he plans to put more U.S. lives and money into the war zone, Obama will set benchmarks for progress in Afghanistan and neighboring, troubled Pakistan. The goal is to show Congress and the American people that the strategy is working — and to set a clear framework for making corrections as needed.
While Obama did campaign on refocusing on the conflict in Afghanistan, this news is likely to surprise more than a few. Apparently, the president believes military force can help our ongoing war on terror conflict against various terrorist organizations. Obviously, Obama wants to be very sure to put in place the kinds of benchmarks his predecessor resisted. That’s probably for the best considering the war has gone on for over seven years. I doubt the public will have much patience for more war and will expect measurable results.
More when the official announcement comes.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 and is filed under Afghanistan, Terrorism, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
