Obama Afghanistan strategy: More troops in quickly, drawdown in 2011
December 2, 2009
Tuesday December 1, President Barack Obama explained that there will be a deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. This is part of a strategy to reverse the momentum of the Taliban and make the government stable. The additional troops will be sent away quickly beginning in early 2010 and starting to withdraw some time during 2011. Obama’s goal is to wihdraw most of the U.S. forces by the end of his term in 2013.
This is the second increase the president has ordered to the Islamic Country since his term began in January.
In his speech Tuesday, Obama said his strategy had 3 objectives:
“• Deny al Qaeda a safe haven
• Reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow Afghanistan’s government
• Strengthen Afghanistan’s security forces and government
The additional troops was one way to achieve these, he said. Other strategies will include holding Afghan government leaders accountable for corruption, focus assistance on areas that could help the lives of Afghans, and securing the country’s border with Pakistan.” (cnn)
