President Obama unveils his strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan


Grappling with a war gone awry, President Barack Obama said today that the situation in Afghanistan is "increasingly perilous" as he announced plans to send thousands more U.S. forces into the nation, hoping to hasten the end of a conflict that still has no clear end in sight.

Obama announced a multitiered strategy that banks heavily on world help and invigorated U.S. diplomacy. The Afghanistan war, which Obama calls adrift, is now his, and a central part of the new strategy is to build up the Afghan army.

The broad U.S. goal remains much as it was when the war began in the fallout of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks: To dismantle the operations of the Taliban and al-Qaida, which have shifted their power base from Afghanistan to Pakistan in recent years.

Obama plans to send in 4,000 more U.S. military troops, whose mission will be to train and expand the Afghan army to take the lead on counterterrorism. He also plans to send in hundreds more U.S. civilians to help the people of Afghanistan rebuild their nation.

Those forces are on top of the 17,000 extra combat troops that Obama has already approved.

(Via MSNBC)

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