US PRESIDENT Barack Obama last night faced the difficult task of portraying his escalation of the war in Afghanistan as an exit strategy, in a nationwide TV address.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that Mr Obama would announce the deployment of between 30,000 and 34,000 more US soldiers, in addition to the 71,000 already in Afghanistan. There are still 120,000 US troops in Iraq.
US marines, who will be the first new troops dispatched, could reach Helmand province as early as Christmas.
The goal of the increase, Mr Gibbs told NBC News, “is to disrupt, dismantle and destroy al-Qaeda and its extremist allies, to make sure there is no safe haven for them in Afghanistan”.
Mr Obama was to announce an “acceleration” of the training of Afghan troops and police “so we can transfer responsibility as soon as possible”, Mr Gibbs said. Between 5,000 and 10,000 of the new soldiers are to be trainers for Afghan forces.
Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, wants Afghan security forces to reach 400,000, but Mr Obama is believed to favour training a smaller number of men, faster and better.
Much of Mr Obama’s speech was expected to concentrate on shifting responsibility for the Afghan war from the US to the Afghans themselves, as well as America’s allies.
“This will not be nation-building. This will not be an open-ended commitment,” Mr Gibbs said. “The president will discuss how we can begin to transition our forces out of Afghanistan.”
Mr Obama was not expected to mention a target date last night. Critics say talk of a timeline merely encourages the Taliban, who have regained control of much of Afghanistan. But media reports say the White House believes US forces can begin “transitioning” out of Afghanistan in two to three years.
The president was to announce specific “benchmarks” for the Afghan government, including anti-corruption tribunals. Mr Obama spent an hour yesterday in a video conference with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.
The Obama administration had hoped Nato allies would send an additional 10,000 troops, but has revised that downward to 5,000. Britain, which has the second largest contingent in Afghanistan, is increasing its contribution from 9,500 to 10,000 men. France says it will maintain its force of 3,900, but cannot send more. Canada and Holland have set departure dates.
“This is not one country’s problem. This is not one region’s problem. This is the world’s problem,” Mr Gibbs said. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton will travel to Brussels tomorrow, prior to a “force generation” conference. Political scientist Richard Neustadt argues that the only real power of a US president is the “power to persuade”.
The Pentagon and Republicans were the only audiences likely to be pleased by Mr Obama’s speech last night. He has an uphill battle persuading Democrats and the US public at large that after eight years and the loss of 922 American lives, the Afghan war can be neatly escalated, then ended.