01 December 2009

Troop Surge Will Allow Afghans to Assume Security Responsibility

 

President Obama poses for a picture with cadets after speaking about Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

President Obama poses for a picture with cadets after speaking about Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — The United States will send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to “seize the initiative” from violent extremists and responsibly transfer the country’s security to Afghan forces beginning in July 2011. In addition, President Obama said the United States will reinforce Afghan civil and economic development, and support Pakistan’s efforts to achieve security and enhance development.

The president made his announcement December 1 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, where American cadets have been trained to be military leaders since 1802.

The overarching goal in both countries remains unchanged, Obama said. In cooperation with its friends and allies, the United States seeks to “disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to prevent its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future.”

The president said he reached his decision after a three-month strategy review with his national security team. “There has never been an option before me that called for troop deployments before 2010, so there has been no delay or denial of resources necessary for the conduct of the war during this review period,” he said.

The threat of new attacks from individuals in Afghanistan and Pakistan is neither “idle” nor “hypothetical,” Obama said, adding that within the past few months the United States has apprehended extremists who were sent from the border region of the two countries to commit acts of terrorism.

But the struggle “is not just America’s war.” Along with the September 11, 2001, attacks against New York and Washington, “al-Qaida’s safe havens have been the source of attacks against London and Amman and Bali,” he said.

The president expressed confidence that other NATO members also will be committing more troops. “We must come together to end this war successfully. For what’s at stake is not simply a test of NATO’s credibility — what’s at stake is the security of our allies, and the common security of the world.”

The Afghan and Pakistani people and their elected governments are themselves endangered, he said, and “the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan, because we know that al-Qaida and other extremists seek nuclear weapons, and we have every reason to believe that they would use them.”

U.S. STRATEGY HAS THREE ELEMENTS

The 30,000 additional U.S. troops will deploy in the first part of 2010 to reverse the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan and increase U.S. capacity to train Afghan security forces. “They will help create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans,” Obama said.

The president gave the order for the deployment of the additional troops at a November 29 White House meeting with senior U.S. military officials.

In July 2011, “our troops will begin to come home,” he said.

Just as in Iraq, where U.S. combat brigades will depart at the end of summer 2010 and all troops will leave by the end of 2011, the security transition in Afghanistan will be executed responsibly, “taking into account conditions on the ground,” the president said. The United States will continue to provide advice and assistance to Afghanistan, but it will be clear to both the Afghan people and their government that “they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.”

The second part of the U.S. effort will also include a “more effective civilian strategy” that will allow Afghan authorities to take advantage of security improvements.

“This effort must be based on performance. The days of providing a blank check are over,” Obama said. The United States will support Afghan leaders at the national, provincial and local levels who “combat corruption and deliver for the people,” but “we expect those who are ineffective or corrupt to be held accountable,” he said.

U.S. civilian assistance will focus on areas such as agricultural development that can quickly affect the lives of the Afghan people, he said.

The third element involves recognizing that success in Afghanistan is “inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan.” In recent years, “it has become clear that it is the Pakistani people who are the most endangered by extremism,” through attacks by militants living within their borders.

“The United States and Pakistan share a common enemy,” Obama said, and the United States is committed not only to strengthening the country’s capacity to target extremist groups, but also to provide “substantial resources to support Pakistan’s democracy and development.”

During her visit to Pakistan in October, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined millions of dollars in U.S. assistance for Pakistan ranging from humanitarian, education and security assistance to microloans and a cellular-phone network.

Obama assured the Pakistani people that “America will remain a strong supporter of Pakistan’s security and prosperity long after the guns have fallen silent, so that the great potential of its people can be unleashed.”

America has “borne a special burden in global affairs” since World War II, has made mistakes and not always been thanked for its efforts. “But more than any other nation, the United States of America has underwritten global security for over six decades,” a period that, on balance, has brought greater freedom, prosperity and scientific advancement to the world.

The president reminded Americans that, unlike great powers of past centuries, their country has not sought world domination.

“We do not seek to occupy other nations. We will not claim another nation’s resources or target other peoples because their faith or ethnicity is different from ours,” he said. The fight continues to be for a better future for coming generations of Americans, “and we believe that their lives will be better if other peoples’ children and grandchildren can live in freedom and access opportunity.”