Source:
Times OnlineBritain is making plans to send up to 1,000 extra troops to Afghanistan to meet the call for reinforcements made by the US commander in Kabul.The troops would be Britain’s contribution to a military surge called for by General Stanley McChrystal, who commands Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, some details of which were leaked to an American newspaper yesterday.
A similar surge in troop numbers was credited with turning the tide in the war against insurgents in Iraq.
An extra 1,000 troops, the equivalent of a battlegroup, would increase Britain’s military presence to about 10,000. Britain’s force is already the second biggest after the US, which has 62,000 troops in Afghanistan and will increase this to 68,000 by the autumn.
In a choreographed plan by the Pentagon and the MoD, Nato would be requested for up to 30,000 extra troops to support the new strategy recommended by General McChrystal. Most of the reinforcements would come from the US.Although Downing Street insisted yesterday that no formal proposals have yet been made, senior government figures acknowledge that a detailed request for more troops is being drawn up and will be presented to Gordon Brown and the Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, once the McChrystal report has been published officially.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6843477.ece_______________________________________________________________________________________________
I guarantee Obama will be sending more troops. Britain wouldn't have offered more if we weren't sending more. I assume we will close the gap to 30,000, so over 25,000 more US troops will be going to Afghanistan.