Obama adds another brigade to Afghanistan troop surge
All in, this will double the number of American troops in the country. Of course, if it’s Obama doing it, then it’s a good thing. Right? There will always be some rationalization to keep the forces overseas from here on in. War is the main economic impulse of empire. Unlike a republic, it does not produce, so it needs to feed – and those massive bases Bush’s contractor friends built in Iraq point to the fact America will be in the area for a very long time.
Flashback: Dismay at Obama plan to leave 50,000 US troops in Iraq after 2010 | Obama eyes 3 more brigades for Afghanistan
CBC News
March 27, 2009
Washington will send an extra 4,000 U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan to train that country’s military and police forces, as well as substantially increase civilian aid efforts, U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday.
Flanked by his national security team, Obama laid out his revamped strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan during a news conference in Washington.
“We will shift our emphasis to training … Afghan security forces so they can eventually take the lead in securing their country,” he said.
Earlier this year, Washington ordered an extra 17,000 soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan by this summer. Obama said those soldiers will help provide security ahead of Afghan presidential elections in August.
Obama called the situation in Afghanistan “increasingly perilous,” with Taliban attacks against American troops and their NATO allies rising steadily.
The president also asked Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to give Pakistan $1.5 billion in economic support each year for the next five years in order to help its leaders combat militants in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Security in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to Pakistan, said Obama, adding al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants are likely hiding out in the lawless border region.
“If Afghanistan’s government falls to the Taliban, that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they can,” he said.
More than 2,800 Canadian soldiers are serving in Afghanistan. Since the mission started almost seven years ago, 116 soldiers have been killed. One diplomat and two aid workers have also been killed.
Obama’s new strategy also includes adding hundreds of civilian advisers to those already in Afghanistan. The civilian surge would concentrate on improving life for ordinary Afghans, and would include experts in agriculture in a country where subsistence farming is the norm, as well as experts in education and law.
The civilians are also meant to help extend government services and the administration of justice.
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