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Obama to unveil new strategy for Afghan war
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by Amitjha | March 26, 2009 at 10:48 pm
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How glorious it seems that a country is going to save another country from their own people.And it is at the cost of sacrificing hundreds of soldiers.Well whatever is the plan in mind of Mr. Obama, but history of Afganistan is clear sign that any effort to control it is going to backfire.
What they need is development driven fighting with the militia so the faith of the masses could be restored in the democratic setup.
4000 extra troops to add up in the existing 17000, is going to be a big burden for the US to carry.Specially when the Taliban is using its war tactics to prove Obama wrong, and force him to do what Bush did.The game of Taliban survival is the involvement of world in the issue, so they can raise funds in the name if Islam in dangerm, and flourish.
Obama will fall in the line of Taliban plot or act as he promised during his election campaign, time will tell.But for the time being he is just following the footsteps of Bush.
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to announce on Friday the United States will deploy 4,000 extra troops to train Afghan security forces in a strategy to disrupt al Qaeda and roll back Taliban advances.
The additional troops will embed and partner with the Afghan military, while hundreds of U.S. government civilian personnel will boost under-resourced reconstruction and development programs, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
The announcement of the new strategy, due at 9.25 a.m. (1325 GMT), comes at a time when violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since U.S.-led forces invaded in 2001 to topple the Taliban. The Islamist militia has staged a strong comeback and sharply escalated its attacks.
Obama, who criticized his predecessor George W. Bush for becoming distracted by the Iraq war and allowing security to deteriorate in Afghanistan, ordered a review of U.S. policy as one of his first official acts after taking office on January 20.
The new strategy will also focus on neighboring Pakistan, where the Taliban has safe havens in tribal areas along the border, three senior Obama administration officials said in a briefing before Friday's announcement.
"For the first time, we are approaching this problem as two countries -- Afghanistan, Pakistan -- but one challenge and one theater for our diplomacy and our reconstruction efforts to work in. We see this as an integrated problem," said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. Under the new strategy, the United States will also "aggressively" pursue a regional diplomatic effort; set benchmarks to measure its performance as well as those of NATO member states, Afghanistan and Pakistan; and boost economic aid to Pakistan to shore up the weak civilian government.
The 4,000 military trainers are in addition to the 17,000 troops Obama has already ordered sent to Afghanistan to help stabilize the country ahead of an election in August.
The United States plans to expand the size of the Afghan army from about 80,000 to 134,000 and the police force from 78,000 to about 82,000. The U.S. officials said further increases were possible.
In the short-term, however, the current $2 billion a month cost of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan are projected to increase 60 percent, another official said.
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Amitjha
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at 02:30 on March 27th, 2009
Amitja,
Thank you for your story. It is both relevant and worthy of some discussion, I disagree with the premise that this is a continuation of the Bush policy. I think the effort is an attempt to boost the effectiveness of Afghan security forces. The ultimate result has to be that the gouverment in Kabul can provide its own security, permitting NATO forces to leave. This may be a pipedream as Afghanistan will be difficult to gouvern from Kabul. The Taliban have a long reach and the problem of the tribal mountainous areas in Pakistan are difficult nut to crack.
at 04:34 on March 27th, 2009
Even during the campaign, Obama was interested in a shift from Iraq to Afghanistan. In his words the US had taken their eye of the ball in fighting terrorists. Of course the war of Terror has now been renamed Overseas Contingency Operation. The initial raison d'etre for Afghanistan was to prevent Al Quaida from operating in Afghanistan. After 9 11 this was seen as the place to go after to prevent future terror attacks. The effort was supported halfheartedly by a lot of NATO nations and only the US Canada and UK along with Holland and a few others actually provided combat troops. Canada's emphasis has always been on reconstruction (Provincial Reconstruction Teams), Training of the Afghan National Army and Police (Operational Mentor Liaison Teams) and Diplomacy.
Unfortunately the reach of the Kabul gouvernment has not gone much beyond Kabul. In both Hellman and Khandahar Province, the locals live in fear of retribution by Taliban Forces. The Canadian Prime Minister stated a few weeks ago, that Afghanistan cannot be won by military forces. It will require Diplomacy, Security and a strong central gouvernment in Kabul.
The 4000 additional troops being send to train Afghans increasing the monthly costs from 2 Billion to 3 Billion Dollars might help. In any case, I think NATO or at least the US will be in this for the long haul.
Canada is scheduled to end it.s mission in 2011.