Inevitable: Obama's Surge in Afghanistan Will Bring a Surge in Civilian Deaths

Inevitable: Obama's Surge in Afghanistan Will Bring a Surge in Civilian Deaths
By Ali Gharib, IPS News
Posted on February 18, 2009, Printed on February 18, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/127676 /


WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he is sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, marking the start of what many believe will be an escalation that will ultimately see the U.S. forces there double.

There are some 36,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan, and the additional 17,000 alone represent a nearly 50 percent increase.

"he situation in Afghanistan/Pakistan demands urgent attention and swift action," Obama said in a statement. "To meet urgent security needs, I approved a request from Secretary Gates to deploy a Marine Expeditionary Brigade later this spring and an Army Stryker Brigade and the enabling forces necessary to support them later this summer."

But an increased U.S. presence will likely result in more combat confrontations. That, in turn, leads to an increased risk to the civilian population of Afghanistan, human rights groups stress.

And those sorts of deaths, injuries and destruction of property have so far been demonstrably destructive to the U.S.-led international effort to stabilize Afghanistan and defeat the violent insurgency being waged by the Taliban and other militant groups.

Some modicum of harm to civilians is likely inevitable as long as massive numbers of foreign troops make war in Afghanistan, but there are steps that the international community can take to minimize the damage that this civilian toll will take on the war effort.

Shortening an armed conflict generally results in less total collateral damage than would have been the case with a protracted war.

'Tough year' ahead in Afghanistan: US general
1 hr 21 mins ago


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General David McKiernan, who commands US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, spoke a day after President Barack Obama approved the deployment in coming months of 17,000 troops, increasing the current US force by about 50 percent.

"Even with these additional forces, I have to tell you, 2009 is going to be a tough year," McKiernan told reporters at the Pentagon.

"There are the baseline problems of poverty, and literacy, and violence that have occurred over the last three decades in that country, so that's not going to turn around quickly," he said.

"But we do see, with these additional forces, an opportunity to break this stalemate, at least in terms of security conditions in the south," he said.

The general said NATO troops were training Afghan military and police but that it would take up to four years before the international force could hand over to the Afghans and have them take a leading role.

"For the next three to four years, I think we're going to need to stay heavily committed and sustain in a sustained manner in Afghanistan," McKiernan said.

<more>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090218/wl_sthasia_afp/usm...

U.S. withdraws.

True Obama inherited the mess in Afghanistan from Bush but Obama has consistently taken similar positions to Bush.

more change i can make believe in!

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I can't imagine one country that thinks this is a good idea

Russia and China are just sitting back and laughing

Watching the USA cut it's own nuts off -

GO FOR IT USA - -

yayzuss