Gates announces Afghanistan troop increase only months before drawdown

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

The US will send an additional 1,400 Marines to Afghanistan in anticipation of intensified fighting in the spring as winter snow melts and fighters return form havens in Pakistan. The unexpected announcement came as the British defense secretary said that anticipated British troop pullouts this year were not a guarantee.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided to send the additional troops, which will deploy to Afghanistan as early as this month, according to The Wall Street Journal. Nearly all of the proposed troops will be frontline infantry in the country’s south, near Kandahar, where foreign troops have focused their efforts recently.

The US-led coalition in Afghanistan is under pressure to show security gains before White House-mandated troop reductions begin in July. According to Reuters, the Taliban are at their strongest since they were ousted from power, although operations against the insurgency have intensified since 2008.

Military officials worry that an increase in attacks in the spring could be seen as a result of a flawed strategy – the troop increase – and would make US lawmakers want to speed up the troop pullout, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Journal notes that the additional 1,400 Marines could bring the total troop surge beyond the 30,000 announced by President Barack Obama in December 2009. At the time, he authorized Secretary Gates to up forces by an additional 10 percent (3,000) in the case of unforeseen circumstances, and officials estimate that 2,000 to 3,000 of those slots have already been used.

"The rationale is to take advantage of the gains we have made over the last several months and apply more pressure on the enemy at a time when he is already under the gun," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told the Journal.

1 | 2

Next