'Surging Towards Stalemate', Asia Times Online, 7 January 2009
EXCERPT: "The United States will soon double the number of its troops in Afghanistan from about 30,000 to 60,000, and several other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries will also up their troop levels. The move comes with little surprise and considerable bipartisan support in the US, but with little public discussion of the aims and likely outcomes. Evocative as the move is with similar events in Iraq that are generally (though perhaps uncritically) credited with bringing stability there, it is hoped that a similar outcome will come about in Afghanistan, where the situation has deteriorated badly while US attention has been focused on Iraq and Iran. The troop surge in Afghanistan will strengthen defenses around major cities such as Kabul, Jalalabad, Gardez and Kandahar, countering the Taliban's infiltration and growing presence in city neighborhoods."
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See also:
'The advance of Taliban', Times of India, 7 January 2009
'Gates estimates 2009 war costs at $136 billion', The Associated Press, 7 January 2009
'The good war?', Foreign Policy, 6 January 2009
'It will take humanity as well as guns to beat the Taliban, says General David Petraeus', Times Online, 4 January 2009
Related posts:
'Afghanistan piles pressure on a war "fatigued" world', 17 December 2008
'Afghan leader complains US, NATO aren't succeeding', 26 November 2008
'Afghanistan: Little has changed in 200 years', 12 November 2008
'How to save Afghanistan', 17 July 2008
'A struggle between war and peace', 3 June 2008
