Barack Obama commits more US troops to Afghanistan in hope of quicker 'conclusion'

Published on 02/12/2009 10:08

THE UNITED States will send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama confirmed today.

• President Barack Obama committed an additional 30,000 troops to the conflict in Afghanistan during an address to students at the West Point military academy

The US leader pledged to bring the conflict to a "successful conclusion" by introducing the surge as quickly as possible.

But while increasing the total American presence in the region to almost 100,000 by next summer, Mr Obama warned that the commitment would not be open-ended.

He set out plans for Afghan security forces to be trained to a sufficient level to enable the US to start pulling troops out as early as July 2011.

The president also appealed to the US's allies to step up their own commitments in the region, insisting: "This is not just America's war."

His strategy was endorsed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was briefed by his US counterpart in advance of the speech.

Mr Brown, who announced this week that the UK's military commitment would be increased to more than 10,000 troops, said: "I call on all our allies to unite behind President Obama's strategy.

"Britain will continue to play its full part in persuading other countries to offer troops to the Afghanistan campaign."

The Prime Minister said that the London conference on Afghanistan that he has called for January 28 would be a "vital next stage".

"It will offer an opportunity to agree a process to transfer provinces and districts to Afghan control; to make decisions on new civilian co-ordination in Afghanistan; and to support commitments by President Karzai on Afghan reforms to build up the Afghan army and police, and local governance; and to secure further support from international partners," he said.

Today's announcement came more than three months after the White House received a report from the US's top commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal recommending about 40,000 extra soldiers were needed.

Mr Obama, in a speech to a military academy in West Point, New York state, indicated he had opted to go with fewer, but will deploy troops in a quicker time-frame that previously thought.

The accelerated schedule will see some additional troops in in place by Christmas, it has been suggested, with the rest deployed by next summer.

He acknowledged the difficulty allied forces face in reversing the fortunes in the flagging conflict.

"Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years it has moved backwards," he said, adding that the Taliban had gained momentum while the Afghanistan-Pakistan border remained a safe-haven for al Qaida.

That was why it was in America's "vital national interest" to send additional troops to Afghanistan, the president added.