Obama makes commitment for thousands more troops

Karachi News.Net
Tuesday 1st December, 2009

President Barack Obama has commited 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in an expensive war buildup.

The first new Marines will join the fight by Christmas in an effort to escalate the advance against the Taliban.

President Obama said his goal in sending the troops is to fast-track the training of Afghan soldiers and police toward hastening an eventual US pullout.

There will be about 5,000 dedicated trainers amongst the 30,000 new troops.

The US military already maintains a force of more than 100,000 in Afghanistan.

President Obama, speaking on a national broadcast, ended three months of deliberations on troop support for the Afghanistan conflict.

He vowed to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for al-Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden.

After the speech, senior US officials said Obama would underscore the troop commitment by stabilising Afghanistan and ensuring the end of corruption; endemic in the Karzai government.

The commitment has been seen as a political gamble for Obama, which may weigh on his chances for another term in the White House.

Portions of the US population have become highly pessimistic about success in Afghanistan and wary about more US soldiers and Marines being put in harm's way.

A new survey on Tuesday showed only 35 percent of Americans now approve of Obama's handling of the war while 55 percent disapprove.

Prior to his speech, President Obama asked NATO alliance partners in Europe to add 5,000 to 10,000 troops to the separate international force in Afghanistan.

While indications were the allies would agree to sending some troops, the war has little support in Europe.

NATO allies currently have around 40,000 troops on the ground.

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