The plan for Afghanistan
Obama outlines strategy
By the numbers
30,000
New U.S. troops, mostly combat personnel, under Obama’s plan.
100,000
Number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan with the new additions.
40,000
Number of NATO troops in Afghanistan now.
849
Number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan so far.
Oct. 2001
U.S. invaded Afghanistan in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
July 2011
Americans will start leaving Afghanistan, under Obama’s plan.
Lengths of U.S. wars
World War I 1914-1918
World War II 1941-1945
Korean War 1950-1953
Vietnam War 1961-1975
Gulf War Aug. 1990-Feb. 1991
Afghanistan 2001-present
Iraq 2003-present
1961 date based on Kennedy administration pledging U.S. support to South Vietnam.
West Point, N.Y. ? Announcing a major expansion of the war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the swift deployment of 30,000 troops would be enough to break the Taliban before the soldiers begin coming home in mid-2011 — a bet he is making because the U.S. cannot afford a drawn-out, costly campaign.
Describing Islamic extremism as “no idle danger, no hypothetical threat,” Obama outlined what would amount to a rapidly executed surge, rushing tens of thousands of combat forces into the country by next summer, while pledging that 18 months later they will begin to be brought back.
“I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Obama said. “This is the epicenter of the violent extremism practiced by al-Qaida. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.”
The decision to send 30,000 additional soldiers had been widely anticipated. The more surprising element was Obama’s decision to set a specific month for the start of the soldiers’ return.
Based on Obama’s schedule, the war would begin to wind down nearly 10 years after it began. The timetable is likely to please members of Obama’s own party, who have pushed him to set a clear exit strategy for the war. But others expressed alarm that Obama had signaled an end to the surge even before it started.
“A date for withdrawal sends exactly the wrong message to both our friends and our enemies — in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the entire region — all of whom currently doubt whether America is committed to winning this war,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. “A withdrawal date only emboldens al-Qaida and the Taliban, while dispiriting our Afghan partners and making it less likely that they will risk their lives to take our side in this fight.”
But in a briefing with news columnists before his speech, Obama dismissed concerns that signaling a withdrawal date would encourage the enemy to wait for U.S. forces to leave.
“If you follow the logic of this argument then you would never leave,” Obama said. “Essentially, you’d be signing on to have Afghanistan as a protectorate of the United States indefinitely.”
Beyond that, Obama said that without a timetable the United States would have “very little leverage” to push the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to prepare for the day when it would have to handle security — and fend off the Taliban — on its own.