17 February 2009
Obama Orders First New Troops to Afghanistan
Stabilizing shattered South Asian nation demands swift action
Washington — President Obama has ordered 17,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan to stabilize deteriorating security conditions as his administration works with allies and regional partners to formulate a comprehensive recovery strategy for the shattered South Asian nation.
“The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention and swift action,” Obama said in a February 17 statement. “This reinforcement will contribute to the security of the Afghan people and to stability in Afghanistan.”
The deployments will consist of an 8,000-strong Marine Expeditionary Brigade in the spring, to be followed by a 4,000-strong Army Stryker Brigade in the summer, along with 5,000 support personnel.
The deployments will constitute a nearly 50 percent increase in the 36,000 U.S. forces already on the ground in Afghanistan. Approximately half serve in the 41-nation NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, while others lead a separate mission dedicated to training Afghan security forces and conducting counterterrorism operations.
During his presidential campaign, Obama identified the stabilization of Afghanistan as a top U.S. foreign policy priority. As a U.S. senator, Obama traveled in the region, where he witnessed an increasingly active insurgency operating from safe havens across the border in Pakistan, a burgeoning narcotics trade in the country’s southeastern provinces, and pervasive corruption in the new Afghan government. Combined, these problems threaten to roll back progress made in the South Asian nation since an international coalition toppled the Taliban regime in 2001. (See “Analysis: Afghanistan Needs the World’s Help.”)
The announcement came as Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, veteran U.S. peacemaker Richard Holbrooke, was returning from his first rounds of consultations in the region. Security challenges facing the region were further illustrated by the Pakistani government’s announcement earlier in the day of a new truce with cross-border extremists targeting communities in the Swat Valley, about 150 kilometers from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
The additional troops will be made possible by America’s drawdown in Iraq, Obama said, and will allow more time for the White House to complete its comprehensive review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Obama seeks a new way ahead in Afghanistan that more effectively combines diplomacy and development with security efforts to help Afghans eliminate terrorist safe havens and emerge from decades of war and poverty. (See “Top U.S. Commander Considers Road Ahead in Afghanistan.”)
“As we develop our new strategic goals, we will do so in concert with our friends and allies as together we seek the resources necessary to succeed,” Obama said.
The White House seeks to complete its policy review before Obama travels to Europe in April for the NATO 60th Anniversary Summit, hosted by France and Germany.
The text of Obama’s statement is available on America.gov.
What actions should President Obama consider to help bring security and stability to Afghanistan? Comment on America.gov’s blog.
