U.S. Doubles Its Troops in Afghan Army

[cal04]

The U.S. military has doubled the number of its soldiers embedded inside the Afghan army, a spokesman said Sunday, bolstering a force that's supposed to relieve American and NATO troops in warlord-plagued provinces and along the Pakistani border.


A group of 288 U.S. National Guard soldiers arrived in Afghanistan (news - web sites) on Friday and Saturday to serve as tactical trainers with the Afghan National Army, joining about 300 already embedded with Afghan units, Maj. Eric Bloom told The Associated Press.

"They have begun the one-week training program before they deploy to the field to meet their (Afghan) counterparts," Bloom said.

Lt. Gen. David Barno, the top commander of American forces in Afghanistan, requested the extra troops to accelerate the training of a 70,000-strong government force designed to tackle renegade faction leaders and remnants of the ousted Taliban.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050220/ap_on_re_as/afghan_us_military

[rodeodance]

1. aren't we about 2 and half years late to do this Afgan?

[Cooley Hurd]

2. How much can one learn in one week?

Sounds like a "bang 'em out quick" situation.

That's working so well in Iraq...:eyes:

[LinuxInsurgent]

3. it ain't over...

the Afghan people have fought of 4 different empires...and the last one took years. The Americans think this is a "go in and get out" operation...if they get out, Karzai falls. If they "stay in", they're gonna wage a unending guerrilla conflict with the tribespeople of Afghanistan that symphatize with the Taliban's ways.

Mark my words...this ain't over.

[Rose Siding]

4. US Ambassador: "foreign troop presence... in Afghanistan indefinitely"

from Reuters write up of the same story...

snip>
U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said in December that some level of foreign troop presence could remain in Afghanistan indefinitely to guarantee its future security.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7681516