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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Sources: More US troops for Afghan war Sources: More US troops for Afghan warBy ANNE GEARAN and PAMELA HESS WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to dispatch additional U.S. troops plus hundreds of civilian advisers in hopes of turning around a faltering war in Afghanistan and will recommend increasing aid to neighboring Pakistan so long as leaders there confront militancy, people familiar with the forthcoming plan said Thursday. Obama plans to lay out his revamped strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday. Several sources told The Associated Press it includes 20 recommendations for countering a persistent insurgency that spans the two countries' border. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs would not discuss specifics of the plan, but said Obama is beginning to discuss its findings with members of Congress and others. Obama's top military advisers briefed key lawmakers Thursday. In broad terms, Obama will define U.S. objectives as eliminating the threat from al-Qaida to undermine or topple U.S.-backed elected governments or to launch attacks on the United States, its interests and allies, the sources said. Sources described the recommendations on condition of anonymity because the final wording was not complete. The new plan identified al-Qaida as the target in a larger network of insurgents who threaten U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, often from sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan. The additional 4,000 troops will be devoted to training and advising the Afghan armed forces, defense officials said. The latest additions would head to Afghanistan this spring and summer. They come on top of about 17,000 combat and support troops Obama wants in place by the end of the summer. The forthcoming White House review also says the U.S. will add hundreds of civilian advisers to those already in Afghanistan. The so-called civilian surge would concentrate on improving life for ordinary Afghans, and would include experts in agriculture in a country where subsistence farming is the norm. The civilians are also meant to help extend government services and the administration of justice. The plan notes that the top U.S. general in Afghanistan still wants some 10,000 or 11,000 additional U.S. forces next year, but does not say whether Obama intends to fulfill that request now, sources said. That decision would come by the end of this year. The plan also strongly backs a recommendation to increase aid to Pakistan, conditioned on improvements in that government's handling of militants in the border region, officials said. The plan would triple humanitarian aid to $1.5 billion a year for five years. It would tie military aid to performance, with a specific caution that Pakistan must cut government ties with insurgents. Last year, then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., proposed legislation that would triple humanitarian spending in Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, but threaten to cut military aid unless Islamabad does more to fight terrorists. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who took over from now-Vice President Biden as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he planned to introduce an updated version of the measure. The legislation would specifically authorize $7.5 billion to be spent in the next five years for development, such as building schools, roads and clinics. At the same time, the bill would withhold military assistance unless the State Department certifies Pakistan's security forces were making "concerted efforts" to go after al-Qaida and Taliban forces and not interfering in political or judicial matters. ---_ Poster Comment: OBAMAPILES - IT'S TIME TO PUT YOUR SONS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS. GET THEM OFF THE SOFA AND INTO THE ARMY. YOUR ICON CALLS.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
#3. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Then when we lose, we take in a million
It's only words
#9. To: Jethro Tull (#7)
Teleprompters, teleprompters sometimes, they don't tell the truth.
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