Blunderov
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"We think in generalities, we live in details"
  
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7,000 More US Troops to Afghanistan
« on: 2008-05-05 01:39:44 » |
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http://www.drudge.com/news/107401/7000-more-us-troops-afghanistan
7,000 More US Troops to Afghanistan
The Pentagon is considering sending as many as 7,000 more American troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall* in contributions from NATO allies, senior Bush administration officials said.
They said the step would push the number of American forces there to roughly 40,000, the highest level since the war began more than six years ago, and would require at least a modest reduction in troops from Iraq. The planning began in recent weeks, reflecting a growing resignation to the fact that NATO is unable or unwilling to contribute more troops despite public pledges of an intensified effort in Afghanistan...
The shortfalls in troop commitments have cast doubt on claims by President Bush and his aides that NATO was stepping up to provide more help in Afghanistan, where the government of President Hamid Karzai faces a resurgent threat from the Taliban and remnants of Al Qaeda. The increasing proportion of United States troops, from about half to about two-thirds of the foreign troops in Afghanistan, would be likely to result in what one senior administration official described as "the re-Americanization" of the war.
"A dozen NATO countries have pledged a total of about 2,000 troops, according to senior NATO officials...Senior alliance commanders in Afghanistan have said they need about 10,000 more troops.
Only one country so far has actually begun preparing more troops to deploy: France, which is sending 700 to Afghanistan, NATO officials said."
* Shortfall? Don'cha love it? Must have been a bad day down at the troop factory. Or something.
Maybe what it really is, is that Afghanistan is a completely losing political proposition in Europe for which reason NATO has refused to become embroiled in a war that falls entirely outside of it's remit in any case. Trouble down 't mill. Good election fodder though.
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French Fries/Toast are back on the menu
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