Talk of a Troop Surge for Afghanistan
U.S. marines are on the way, but much now depends on whether France sends reinforcements
By Anna Mulrine
Posted March 21, 2008
As the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq fades from the front pages, analysts are turning their attention to what is often called the forgotten war. Many fear that progress in Afghanistan is stalled and that the country is in need of major new measures to reinvigorate the war effort against the Taliban and other extremist factions.
To that end, talk is increasingly turning to a troop surge for Afghanistan. The conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, which was instrumental in designing the current surge strategy in Iraq, in January convened an “Afghanistan Planning Group” that will shortly announce recommendations for an influx of troops into Afghanistan as well. “It’s clear to everyone who looks at it that more troops are necessary in Afghanistan,” says Frederick Kagan, an AEI fellow and an architect of the surge strategy in Iraq. (more…)
