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US to send more troops to Afghanistan this year

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-03 09:58

It is a matter of consensus, however, within the Bush administration and between the United States and major allies, that there are far too few troops in Afghanistan to fight the accelerating Taliban and to train Afghan soldiers and police.

Overall, roughly 32,000 US troops are in Afghanistan, including 14,000 with NATO forces and 18,000 conducting training and counterinsurgency.

That is the largest US presence since the war began.

Related readings:  US, NATO deaths in Afghanistan pass Iraq toll  Pakistan bombards suspected Taliban hideouts

Afghanistan, not Iraq, was the original target after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The United States led the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001 for providing haven to terrorists, including al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The latest assessment from the Pentagon, released last week, describes a dual terror threat in Afghanistan: the Taliban in the south, and "a more complex, adaptive insurgency" in the east, comprising groups ranging from al-Qaida and Afghan warlords to Pakistani militants.

Military officials say security has deteriorated in large part because of the lawless, tribal border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bush said he will seek to remind his peers at the G-8 summit that the battle against violent extremists goes on.    "The temptation is to kind of say, well, maybe this isn't really a war, maybe this is just a bunch of disgruntled folks that occasionally come and hurt us," Bush said. "You know, that's not the way I feel about it. This is an ongoing, constant struggle to defend our own security."

The other G-8 nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia. The summit will be the last of Bush's presidency.

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