Taliban Growth Weighs on Obama Strategy Review

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The White House has been presented intelligence estimating Taliban-led forces battling U.S. troops in Afghanistan have nearly quadrupled since 2006 and are increasingly independent of leaders in Pakistan, officials said on Friday.

A U.S. intelligence assessment, showing the number of fighters in the insurgency has reached an estimated 25,000 from 7,000 in 2006, spotlights Taliban gains and the tough choices facing President Barack Obama in trying to reverse the trend.

Some of Obama's advisers see a more concerted crackdown by Pakistan on militants on its side of the border as key to turning the tide in Afghanistan, but U.S. intelligence agencies see little correlation, citing the Afghan insurgency's autonomy and increasing home-grown sophistication, officials said.


http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/09/us/politics/politics-us-afghanistan-usa.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Taliban%20growth&st=cse