AP: Commander Wants Afghan Tours Extended

[Eugene]

Associated Press
Commander Wants Afghan Tours Extended
By ROBERT BURNS 01.16.07, 3:33 PM ET

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Tuesday he wants to extend the
combat tours of 1,200 soldiers amid rising violence, and Defense Secretary Robert
Gates said he was "strongly inclined" to recommend a troop increase to President
Bush if commanders believe it is needed.

Gates also said Pakistan must act to stem an increasing flow of Taliban fighters into
Afghanistan as U.S. military officials cited new evidence that the Pakistani military,
which has long-standing ties to the Taliban movement, has turned a blind eye to the
incursions.

The prospect of a troop increase in Afghanistan, at the same time Bush is ordering
21,500 more troops into Iraq, raises new questions about the military's ability to
sustain its war-fighting on two major fronts. There now are about 24,000 U.S. troops
in Afghanistan, which Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the senior American commander here,
said is the highest since the war began in October 2001.

It also raises questions about the future course of the war in Afghanistan, which the
United States is increasingly handing off to NATO forces. Of the 31,000 troops here
under NATO command, about 11,000 are American. The United States has an additional
12,000 or 13,000 to hunt down al-Qaida terrorists and to train the Afghan army.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/01/16/ap3333034.html

[rocktivity]

1. TRANSLATION: Commander NEEDS Afghan Tours Extended

because he's losing, but knows better than to ask because it might cost him his job.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Spazito]

2. It is good to see the article showing the hypocrisy of Gates

and the bush cabal by including this important detail:

"The prospect of a troop increase in Afghanistan, at the same time Bush is ordering
21,500 more troops into Iraq, raises new questions about the military's ability to
sustain its war-fighting on two major fronts."

[gratuitous]

3. The Commander wants that, huh?

Any word from us civilians back home, you know, the alleged bosses, about what we might want?

[mourningdove92]

4. Oh, please.

My boy is supposed to leave there on the 18th.

[atreides1]

6. Hopefully this isn't his unit

Eikenberry told reporters he has recommended to the Pentagon that 1,200 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division — which is about halfway through a scheduled four-month tour in eastern Afghanistan — be ordered to stay through the end of the year.

[atreides1]

5. I find this part funny

"Eikenberry, who is due to leave his post on Jan. 21"


The man is asking for tours of the troops to be extended, but he's going home in a few weeks, what putz!!!!

[Dean Martin]

7. I wish

...that we'd get out of both Iraq and Afghanistan immediately.

[LynnTheDem]

8. George W. bUsh; 2 invasions, 2 wars LOST.

Doing a heckuva job, as always, George.

[murielm99]

9. He has lost two wars,

two skyscrapers, two elections, and one city.

And we have two more years of this!

[LynnTheDem]

10. And America's reputation...

although he's gained us a new one; most despised nation on the planet.

[fed-up]

11. I know of two locals from 82nd Bat sent to Afghan & 1 just shot/sent to Bethesda

BRING OUR BOYS HOME NOW