U.S. Sending 12,000 to 15,000 Additional U.S. Troops to Afghanistan
August 20th, 2008Via: U.S. News:
The Pentagon will be sending 12,000 to 15,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, possibly as soon as the end of this year, with planning underway for a further force buildup in 2009.
A request by Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, for three U.S. brigades with support staff has been approved. “Now that means we just need to figure out a way to get them there,” adds a senior defense official.
The troops are slated to arrive earlier than has been previously discussed, on the heels of the deadliest months for American forces in Afghanistan since the war began.
The first wave of soldiers will be a U.S. Army brigade from the 10th Mountain Division, according to a senior military official. This brigade is scheduled to ship out between November and January, while two other brigades are likely to arrive “sometime in the spring or summer of next year,” the official adds.
NOW we’ll clean up all that nasty opium… lol
Yah, gives a whole new meaning to the word “Hoover” doesn’t it?