US may send more troops to Afghanistan
US says up to three more US combat brigades may go to Afghanistan.
By Agencies |
WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that up to three more US combat brigades could be available to go to Afghanistan beginning in early 2009, in answer to repeated calls from commanders for more troops.
Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that more forces cannot be committed now without extending combat tours or changing troop deployments. But in response to prodding from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, he said they probably could go in the spring and summer of 2009.
Last week the senior US general in Afghanistan said he needs at least 10,000 more ground troops, beyond the 3,700 Army soldiers due early next year.
In testimony prepared for delivery before the committee, Gates painted a somber picture of the hurdles in Afghanistan, as the US heads toward its eighth year at war there.
He said the US must encourage Afghanistan and Pakistan to work together to secure their border, a volatile region that has seen an increase in deadly clashes in the past year. The violence there has been exacerbated by ongoing tensions over cross-border incursions by U.S. troops as well as reports of civilian casualties, and unconfirmed suggestions that US helicopters have been targeted by Pakistanis during border operations.
Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that more forces cannot be committed now without extending combat tours or changing troop deployments. But in response to prodding from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, he said they probably could go in the spring and summer of 2009.
Last week the senior US general in Afghanistan said he needs at least 10,000 more ground troops, beyond the 3,700 Army soldiers due early next year.
In testimony prepared for delivery before the committee, Gates painted a somber picture of the hurdles in Afghanistan, as the US heads toward its eighth year at war there.
He said the US must encourage Afghanistan and Pakistan to work together to secure their border, a volatile region that has seen an increase in deadly clashes in the past year. The violence there has been exacerbated by ongoing tensions over cross-border incursions by U.S. troops as well as reports of civilian casualties, and unconfirmed suggestions that US helicopters have been targeted by Pakistanis during border operations.
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