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AFGHANISTAN - US MILITARY
US announces troop surge of at least 20,000
SATURDAY 20 DECEMBER 2008
The United States plans to send between 20,000 and 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by the summer of 2009, announced the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen (pictured.)
REUTERS - The United States is looking to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the beginning of next summer, the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff said on Saturday.
Washington is already sending some 3,000 extra troops in January and another 2,800 by 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."
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.
POUR ALLER PLUS LOIN
POUR ALLER PLUS LOIN
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20/12/2008 23:19:31Alert a moderator
Lessons of History
By Adirondack Patriot -
Actually, when will the belligerent militants who attack the United States learn the lessons of history? What exactly did they win on September 11th, 2001? What they fail to comprehend is that they will always pay an unbearable cost. Don't compare the acts of the United States to the acts of Britian and the Soviet Union. Compare the acts of the Taliban to those of every failed regime in history that embraces 14th century ideals.
20/12/2008 19:55:01Alert a moderator
US ignores the lessons of history
By Anonyme - USA Washington
The British in the 19th Century & the Russians in the 20th leant the hard way that you cant defeat a determined enemy on his own turf. No culture in the world will accept an occupying army from a different culture, continent, & religion. How many US troops will,have to die before Obama gets this message?