Afghan Troop Build-up Eyed for Spring

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Afghan Troop Build-up Eyed for Spring
September 24, 2008
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Up to three more combat brigades could be available to go to Afghanistan beginning next spring, in answer to repeated calls from commanders for more troops, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.

Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that more forces can't be committed now without extending combat tours or changing troop deployments. But, in response to prodding from the committee's chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Gates said they probably could go in the spring and summer of 2009. Each brigade has about 3,500 troops.

Levin objected to a statement in Gates' prepared testimony that said it now may be "possible" to do militarily what must be done in Afghanistan - which has been a secondary priority to the Iraq war for years.

"It seems to me that is just simply not good enough," said Levin. "To say it's possible that we'll do what we must do in Afghanistan does not represent the kind of commitment of forces or resources that our commanders on the ground are asking us for in Afghanistan."

In response, Gates offered the likely troop buildup next spring, but cautioned that the next president will have to weigh how large a U.S. force should be sent to Afghanistan, given that the population does not readily welcome foreign forces there.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/afghan-troop-buildup-eyed-for-spring.html