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Obama: Afghan Troop Surge Will Be At Fastest Pace Possible

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday will tell the nation in a critical speech that he plans to send 30,000 fresh troops to Afghanistan as quickly as he can to help stabilize the region and defeat al Qaeda.

“The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010–the fastest pace possible–so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers,” Obama will say, according to excerpts of the address he plans to give later Tuesday.

The expedited troop buildup “will increase our ability to train competent Afghan security forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans can get into the fight,” Obama will say during his speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

The president will describe the revamped war strategy as part of an effort to create conditions for the U.S. to transfer responsibility to the Afghans.

Additionally, Obama administration officials say the president Tuesday night also will announce plans to start transitioning out of the region in July 2011. Still, Obama administration officials stress that the pace of U.S. withdrawal in 2011 will be dictated by conditions on the ground.

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Pakistan officials wary of Obama’s strategy for Afghanistan

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Pakistan officials wary of Obama’s strategy for Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s government expressed confusion and concern Wednesday about President Obama’s new Afghan strategy, which calls for Pakistan to step up its cooperation against terrorism in exchange for a pledge of a long-term partnership “after the guns fall silent.”
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Obama’s long-awaited speech at West Point was broadcast live on TV here just after dawn, but the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry waited nearly 12 hours to issue a cautious response that stressed the “need for clarity” in the new U.S. policy and sought to “ensure that there would be no adverse fallout on Pakistan.”

The Pakistani government is fearful that this country could be further destabilized by a reinvigorated military campaign in next-door Afghanistan. A growing tide of urban bombings and terrorist attacks have killed hundreds of people in Pakistan in the past several months.

Just after noon Wednesday, the capital was shaken by a suicide bombing at the entrance to National Naval Headquarters in an affluent, highly guarded neighborhood. A teenage boy blew himself up as a guard approached him, and horrified drivers watched from a few feet away while waiting for a traffic light to change. Officials said the blast killed the bomber and two guards.

Even though such violence has become commonplace, many Pakistanis would disagree with Obama’s observation Wednesday that Pakistan and Afghanistan share “a common enemy.” Instead, they blame the United States for creating the conflict in Afghanistan and are reluctant to be drawn into it.

“The U.S. is seen as an occupier in Afghanistan, and there’s no way that can be turned around,” said Pervez Hoodbhoy, a nuclear physicist and defense analyst. He said that a Taliban victory in Afghanistan would be “terrible for Pakistan,” but that the United States has to “clean up the mess before it leaves.”

A major worry here is that the surge of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan announced by Obama will send thousands of Afghan insurgents fleeing into Pakistan and further disturb volatile areas in both southwestern Baluchistan and the northwestern tribal region where Pakistani troops have been waging war against local Taliban forces for the past six weeks.