Washington, Dec 2 (DPA) US President Barack Obama has made the long-awaited announcement that he is deploying 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan while pledging to begin withdrawals in 18 months, hoping an exit strategy will quell growing public opposition to the war.
“If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow,” Obama said Tuesday.
After more than two months of intense consultations with his war council, Obama outlined his new strategy for Afghanistan in a speech to grey-uniformed cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point in New York.
The plan is intended to reverse gains by the Taliban in recent years and the sharply deteriorating security environment.
The build-up is expected to be completed by the summer, when the US force will reach 98,000 troops. Obama said his July 2011 target to begin withdrawals will depend on “conditions on the ground” and is meant to pressure the Afghan government to act swiftly toward taking responsibility for the country.
“The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 – the fastest pace possible – so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centres,” he said.
Obama closely tied the conflict in Afghanistan with the fight in Pakistan against Islamist extremism and the Taliban, which finds refuge in ungoverned swathes of the neighbouring country. Obama said the US and Pakistan faced a “a common enemy” and pledged to strengthen ties between Washington and Islamabad.
“In recent years, as innocents have been killed from Karachi to Islamabad, it has become clear that it is the Pakistani people who are the most endangered by extremism,” he said.
The US will continue to assist the Pakistani military and help build a viable economy and democratic institutions in the country. He called the Afghan-Pakistani border the “epicentre of the violent extremism practised by Al-Qaeda”.
Obama said he will urge NATO and other allies to likewise contribute more troops.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend a NATO conference Friday in Brussels to address the issue, and a senior administration official hinted that NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen will announce an expanded NATO force.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already pledged an additional 500 troops to the fight and has suggested NATO could add another 5,000. The new forces will expand Britain’s already second-largest contingent in the alliance to more than 10,000.
The US government has reportedly asked France for another 1,500 troops and Germany for another 2,000 troops.
“We must come together to end this war successfully,” Obama said. “For what’s at stake is not simply a test of NATO’s credibility – what’s at stake is the security of our allies and the common security of the world.”
Obama said that for the last several years Afghanistan has “moved backwards” as the Taliban movement has regained momentum. “The status quo is not sustainable,” he said.
Obama warned recently re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai that his government must work to improve the country and warned that US support was conditioned on achieving results, especially at ending corruption.
“This effort must be based on performance,” Obama said. “The days of providing a blank cheque are over.”
Obama’s buildup falls short of the additional 40,000 troops requested by the top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. Most of the extra forces will be in combat roles, while the others will focus on training Afghan security forces.
Obama deflected the Republican opposition’s criticism of a withdrawal timeframe, saying that placing a date on the mission will help pressure the Afghan government and the international effort to make progress and transition security responsibilities to Kabul.
“The absence of a timeframe for transition would deny us any sense of urgency in working with the Afghan government,” he said. “It must be clear that Afghans will have to take responsibility for their security, and that America has no interest in fighting an endless war in Afghanistan.”
Obama has faced resistance from his own party’s left wing, which is opposed to sending in more forces ahead of the November 2010 by-elections with the Democratic majority in Congress at stake.
In a Gallup poll release Tuesday, 55 percent of Americans said they disagreed with Obama’s handling of the Afghan war, while 35 percent approved.
Democrats have also questioned the cost of the war at a time of economic hardship in the US. Obama acknowledged the steep, $30 billion cost of his new approach. Some congressional Democrats have called for a war tax but have yet to gain much traction.
Since Monday, Obama has briefed numerous leaders about his plans, including Karzai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Brown, French and Russian presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Ministers Donald Tusk of Poland and Manmohan Singh of India, and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
