Afghanistan/US - more troops

Obama orders more troops to Afghanistan

Article published on the 2009-12-01 Latest update 2009-12-01 09:04 TU

US soldiers of 3/509 infantry Task Force Geronimo rest at a checkpoint near of Forward Operating Base Tillman, 25 November 2009.
(Photo: Bruno Domingos/Reuters)

US President Barack Obama will on Tuesday announce plans to send up to 35,000 more troops to Afghanistan, a plan that even his supporters say could be politically costly, as many in the US want out of the years-long war. World leaders pledged support to further train Afghan troops and police, but only Britain has committed more soldiers.

"The Commander in Chief has issued the orders," said White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs Monday.

Obama briefed world leaders on the new Afghan strategy on Monday before discussing them with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. On Tuesday evening he is to give a television address to explain it to the people.

Gibbs said the plan was to move towards the US eventually leaving Afghanistan.

"This is not an open-ended commitment," he said. "We are there to partner with the Afghans, to train the Afghan national security forces, the army and the police, so that they can provide security for their country and wage a battle against an unpopular insurgency."

Obama called and spoke to the leaders of France, Russia, Britain and Australia Monday, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he would send 500 additional troops by December, bringing the UK's total to 9,500.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged more police trainers, but did not commit more troops beyond the 1,500 already there.

The French daily Le Monde reports that Obama asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy for 1,500 more soldiers, echoing a request made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to her French counterpart Bernard Kouchner last week.

But, for the moment, France has not committed any personnel.

Defence Minister Hervé Morin said Monday that there was no plan to send more French troops, for now.

"France considers it has made an extremely large effort, and for now it is out of the question for France to increase its forces,” he told journalists Monday.

Sarkozy said Monday afternoon that French troops in Afghanistan would stay “as long as necessary”, but he did not say if there would be reinforcements.

France has some 3,400 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, according to Defence Ministry statistics.

Obama is to address the US at 8pm EST Tuesday from the US Military Academy at West Point.