President Obama will issue orders to build up troop presence in the "forgotten war." This will increase U.S. presence with 30,000 additional personnel, in surprising news today the U.K.'s PM Gordon Brown has made public the addition of 500 special forces troops to Britain's 10,000 strong contingent.
News has it that Obama will announce the plan to commit 30,000 this Tuesday. The plan is in response to Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for 40,000 soldiers. Recently the defense secretary of the U.K. made a public announcement that public support for the war was flagging in his country due to lack of U.S. commitment.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the pre-announcement is part of two-day effort to gain support for the President's plan. The plan which comes after weeks of deliberation with be part of a public address to the American people and the world at West Point N.Y.
Assurances coming from Obama's cabinet, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, claim that this is not an open ended commitment. However there is still no publicized exit strategy.
Currently the U.S. has about a 68,000 strong force in Afghanistan with allied states, including the U.K. at 10,000, totaling 100,000. Apparently the plan was told in person to Australian PM Kevin Rudd who is visiting Washington D.C.
In a move calculated to pull more support form the other allied states working to stabilize Afghanistan the President has been assuring them face to face. Preempting his address set for this Tuesday. According to the Associated Press the leaders of Italy, France, Britain and Russia were informed of the plan but not given exact details.
Italy also announced that it will increase its' commitment from the current number of 3200. This according to Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister who proposed the creation of an EU military force.
PM Brown is selling the idea to U.K. public as important for their safety and with other strategists telling the people that 'terrorism must be stamped out at its' source' which is currently the Afghan-Pakistan border. This comes as current events like the sanctions against Iran's nuclear program and the banning of minarets in Switzerland take the fore of recent news.
Brown also insisted that the military surge is just one of two surges: the other being a political surge designed to build up the creditability of the Afghan government and police forces. Hamid Karzai's administration has been under heavy criticism from the world for corruption.
The Afghan front has come to recent attention in Middle East regional politics as a means for the Allies to gain credibility, especially in light of the problems with Iraq. President Obama is quoted as saying he intends to "finish the job."
The build up also comes at the same time that Pakistan is increasing its' anti-terror operations along the border with Afghanistan in northern Pakistan's wild west like tribal regions which have for years played host to international intrigue and jockeying for the Khyber pass.
Written by Seamus Esparza
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