Reply #5: Obama to Send More Troops, Seek Afghanistan Exit

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Obama to Send More Troops, Seek Afghanistan Exit

By REUTERS
Published: December 1, 2009
Filed at 8:14 p.m. ET

WEST POINT, New York (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he is sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next summer to speed the battle against the Taliban and plans to start bringing some home in 18 months.

The accelerated timetable Obama unveiled in a high-stakes speech surprised some Pentagon planners who expected a 12- to 18-month period for deploying forces to bolster the 68,000 U.S. troops already in the war zone.

"As commander-in-chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home," Obama told cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

These U.S. troops, plus an expected extra contingent from NATO allies, Obama said, "will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011."

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/01/us/politics/politics-us-afghanistan-usa-1.html?_r=1