New units face evolving fight in Afghanistan

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New units face evolving fight in Afghanistan
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, January 12, 2009

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan — U.S. reinforcements have begun to filter into eastern Afghanistan ahead of what is widely viewed by the military as a critical season in the seven-year war against a resurgent Taliban.

Though many of the 20,000 to 30,000 additional U.S. troops expected to arrive this year will head for Taliban strongholds in the south of the country, thousands will be used to bolster efforts around American-patrolled hotspots in the east — especially along the border with Pakistan — as well as dramatically strengthen the U.S. presence in several interior provinces where insurgent activity has increased.

U.S. troops currently make up about half the 60,000 international forces in Afghanistan, with American efforts focused on the east. The additional troops expected to arrive this year will roughly double the American contingent.

The arrival of the additional troops comes after two years of dramatically escalating violence, with 2008 by far the deadliest year of the war for U.S. and international troops. A recent independent assessment of the war concluded that the Taliban now has a permanent presence in three-quarters of the country, up from just over half in 2007.

While American commanders are quick to point to the differences between Afghanistan and Iraq, the incoming units will undoubtedly face heightened expectations for the war, especially after dramatic security gains followed the U.S. "surge" of about 30,000 troops into Iraq in early 2007.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59947