Petraeus: Most ‘Surge’ Forces to Arrive by September

[The Straight Story]

Petraeus: Most ‘Surge’ Forces to Arrive by September

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2010 – Nearly all of the U.S. combat troops slated to deploy to Afghanistan to take part in the military buildup there should arrive by the end of August, the commander of U.S. Central Command said here yesterday.

“Everybody engaged in this , from the president all the way down to the lowest-ranking member of the deploying forces, is making an effort to getting there as rapidly as possible,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said at a military strategy forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

On Dec. 1, President Barack Obama announced a shift in the counterinsurgency strategy for Afghanistan. The change, in part, called for 30,000 additional U.S. troops to assist the Afghan government and its security forces in suppressing resurgent Taliban militants and other insurgents.

“I think that it is possible to demonstrate progress, and that’s what you’re going to do in Afghanistan,” Petraeus said.

Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal is leading the counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan. Some major elements of McChrystal’s strategy include the securing of the Afghan people against insurgent violence and reprisals and improving citizens’ quality of life through reconstruction and infrastructure projects.

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57679