Patrol Base Jaker Movie

Hillary Clinton: All nations must play a part in Afghanistan mission

This week, President Barack Obama reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to our core goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and prevent their return to either country. The US is sending an additional 30,000 personnel to Afghanistan, significantly increasing our civilian aid to the Afghan people, and broadening our partnership with Pakistan.

Today in Brussels, I will discuss the way forward with our allies. And I will thank those nations that have pledged additional troops. This is a crucial test for Nato. After September 11, the alliance invoked Article 5 of its charter for the first time, affirming that the terrorist attacks planned in Afghanistan and perpetrated in the US were attacks on every Nato member. The members of the alliance have paid a steep price in lives, but we must remain firm in our resolve.

For countries in the region, the stakes are particularly high. Civilians of every faith have been murdered, but Muslims have paid the highest toll. Troops from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other Muslim-majority nations are fighting extremism in Afghanistan and their participation is vital to our mission.

Along with the extra American troops, more international forces will help to deny al-Qaeda a safe haven; reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government; and strengthen the capacity of the Afghans to take responsibility for their own security.

full article at www.telegraph.co.uk

Accelerated Troop Surge in Afghanistan Faces Logistical 'Challenge'

It took four months to plan and now will take six months to deploy 30,000 more U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a timeline whose pace surprised some in and outside of the Defense Department.

One senior defense official said bringing that many troops into the country in that short a time creates a logistical "challenge" that won't be easy. But it won't be impossible either.

Deploying troops to Afghanistan in the next six months will be met by the country's harsh winters. Fighting drops dramatically over the winter months as roads become impassable and the U.S. will be forced to fly everything in, which takes considerable time, sources told Fox News.

full article at www.foxnews.com

Obama Plans Accelerated Troop Deployment for Afghan Mission

 

President Barack Obama has ordered an 18-month "surge" of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, after which the administration will review the war's progress and set a withdrawal timetable, a White House official said Tuesday.

At least some of the U.S. forces will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in July 2011. That timetable suggests the troop commitment, which will take U.S. forces to nearly 100,000, won't be the sort of open-ended increase requested by top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

Ahead of Mr. Obama's high-stakes speech to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., tonight, administration officials are stressing the speed of the deployments, and the potential speed of withdrawals, if all goes well. U.S. troops will be teamed with Afghan security forces in an effort to speed the transfer of security duties to the Afghan army and police. That plan closely resembles the surge of forces into Iraq in 2007, a plan Mr. Obama, then a senator, opposed.

After a three-month review of the war effort in Afghanistan, the White House is now looking ahead to another review -- after the additional troops have been in place 18 months. White House officials say the president will lay out a series of dates tonight to map out what they say will be the orderly winding down of a war now in its ninth year.

full article at online.wsj.com