DUPE: Obama approves 13,000 more troops to Afghanistan

[Karmadillo]

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/obama-approves-13000-more-troops-to-afghanistan-20091013-gvtk.html

Obama approves 13,000 more troops to Afghanistan
October 14, 2009

President Barack Obama has approved the deployment of an additional 13,000 US troops to Afghanistan beyond the 21,000 he announced publicly in March, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The additional troops are primarily support forces -- such as engineers, medical specialists, intelligence experts and military police -- the paper said, bringing the total build-up approved by Obama to 34,000.

FULL AFGHANISTAN COVERAGE

"Obama authorised the whole thing. The only thing you saw announced in a press release was the 21,000," an unnamed defence official familiar told the paper.

The maximum number of US forces expected in Afghanistan by year's end -- 68,000 -- would remain the same, the paper said.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates had said previously he would be sending more support troops or "enablers" to Afghanistan even as Obama weighs the best war strategy going forward, amid an appeal for tens of thousands of additional combat forces from the commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.

more...

[thunder rising]

1. This was not even news when Bu$h did it. The number is always counted as trigger pullers the addons

are free.

[lamp_shade]

2. Support troops... not combat troops.

[ixion]

5. lol... and the first Americans in Vietnam were 'military observers'

but that didn't stop a whole bunch-a-killing from going on.

[Mari333]

3. looks like the war machine wins. setting up our puppet govt there to protect corporate interests.

I give up. the corporate war machine is in charge.

[placton]

4. if Obama did it

it must be gooooooood :sarcasm:

[Karmadillo]

6. My post is a duplicate. The original can be found at the link below.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6764145

[tekisui]

7. There are now more troops in Afghanistan and Iraq than under bush surge.

The troop increase approved by Obama means that there are more US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan than during the peak of the surge in Iraq in late 2007 and early 2008.

About 65,000 US forces are currently in Afghanistan and about 124,000 in Iraq. At the height of the Iraq surge, 26,000 US troops were in Afghanistan and 160,000 in Iraq, according to a troop count by The Post.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/obama-approves-13000-more-troops-to-afghanistan-20091013-gvtk.html

[newtothegame]

8. It's ok. We still have pictures of our ballots so we can prove we made 'history.' n/t