U.S. soldiers of Duke Task Force are being briefed about the operation in Bastik at a Forward Operating Base near the Pakistani border in Nunar province eastern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)US Chiefs Plan Troop Surge In Afghanistan
-- Times Online
-- Times Online
American military chiefs are to send up to 9,000 troops to Helmand next year, potentially sidelining the UK’s 5,000-strong force in the southern Afghanistan province. The first of three US brigade combat teams is expected to be operational by the spring. Their main base is under construction alongside the British headquarters at Camp Bastion.
The move comes amid US frustration that the British have insufficient soldiers and helicopters to maintain security and reconstruct Helmand, with the Taliban acting freely in large tracts of the province.
President George W Bush is expected to announce a surge of US troops into southern Afghanistan after next month’s White House election.
General David McKiernan, the US commander of all allied forces in Afghanistan, has asked for at least four brigade combat teams for Afghanistan, but most will go into Helmand.
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My Comment: Special ops .... more brigades .... greater NATO participation .... one can only surmise that there will be heavy fighting come spring time in Afghanistan.