Gates: Decision on Afghanistan coming soon

[unhappycamper]

Gates: Decision on Afghanistan coming soon
By Anne Gearan - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 10, 2009 20:15:22 EST

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is days away from approving a new Afghanistan troop buildup, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday, as the new administration confronts a worsening war and the prospect of fiercer fighting in the spring.

Obama is likely to send fresh forces to the Afghan battle even before concluding a wide review of U.S. strategy and goals there, in part because time is short to have new units in place for the expected increase in fighting that comes with warmer weather.

“The president will have several options in front of him,” Gates said at a Pentagon news conference, adding that he expects a decision “in the course of the next few days.”

Gates suggested, as have other officials, that the ground commander in Afghanistan would eventually get all the forces he has asked for, but no more. Lt. Gen. David McKiernan wants more fighting forces and support troops such as helicopter crews to push back against the Taliban in Afghanistan’s increasingly dangerous south and eastern regions.

“If the president agreed to ultimately, to satisfy the standing requests from General McKiernan, I would be deeply skeptical about further troop deployments beyond that. I worry a lot about the size of the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan,” he said.


Rest of article at: http://airforcetimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_afghanistan_troop_boost_021009/%2e