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Obama to Send 'Up To 45,000' Extra Troops to Afghanistan
[Quqnoos] The US is expected to announce a significant surge of up to 45,000 extra troops for Afghanistan, the Telegraph reports. President Barack Obama's administration is understood to have told the British government that it could announce the significant troop increase in Afghanistan, the British newspaper adds.Mr Obama's decision comes after his top commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, warned of a 'mission failure' unless more troops are pumped into the country. The troop surge is likely to be announced next week, according to the article. The White House did not confirm the claims after President Obama met with his senior advisors and military commanders for the fifth time to revise his strategy in Afghanistan. "I would not put any weight behind the fact that a decision has been made, when the President has yet to make a decision," White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, told reporters. "I've seen the report. It's not true, either generally or specifically. The President has not made a decision." Earlier British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, announced the sending of an additional 500 troops to Afghanistan. Britain currently has 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, most of them based in the volatile southern Helmand province. The number of US troops in Afghanistan will reach 100,000 for the first time, if President Obama approves the deployment of the additional 40,000 forces. Posted by: Fred 2009-10-16 |
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