Afstan: More UK, US troops?

If both countries increase it should add to the pressure on Germany, France, Italy et al. at least to loosen their caveats.

1) UK:

The prospect of more British troops being sent to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan was signalled by Tony Blair yesterday.

The move followed an exclusive report in The Herald in which it was revealed that during a private meeting in No 10 on Sunday, Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, asked the Prime Minister for additional British forces to keep up the military momentum against the insurgents...

Military sources have suggested that the US request could result in as many as 1000 extra British troops being sent to Afghanistan. If it happens, then it will put further pressure on a stretched - some say overstretched - army, which is already struggling to cope with a rolling deployment of 5800 soldiers to Afghanistan and 7100 to Iraq every six months.

The Americans have 20,000 troops in Afghanistan [rather more--see below] and are about to take command of all Nato forces, including the British, next month. The Pentagon is keen to reduce its commitment there to create reserves for Iraq [maybe not--see following]...

2) US:

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that U.S. commanders in Afghanistan have recommended an increase in U.S. force levels, in part to deal with an expected upsurge in Taliban violence this year.

Gates said U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan this year would depend in part on troop contributions from other NATO countries [emphasis added] who are part of a U.S.-led coalition attempting to stabilize the country and prevent the Taliban from regaining power...

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not mention any specific troop increase, but said it might make sense for "a short-term plus-up" if that would head off the potential need for even more in the years ahead.

Gates said the commanders’ recommendation for a troop increase would be considered first by the joint chiefs and he would then decide what to recommend to U.S. President George W. Bush...

...There now are about 24,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, which Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry said is the highest since the war began in October 2001 [I wish those in our media who constantly warn us that the Americans are cutting and running would note that--send end of link]...

Eikenberry, the senior American commander here, told reporters he has recommended to the Pentagon that 1,200 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division - which is about halfway through a scheduled four-month tour in eastern Afghanistan - be ordered to stay through year’s end. Eikenberry is due to leave his post Jan. 21.

That battalion is already scheduled to deploy to Iraq later this year, an illustration of how stretched U.S. forces are by the two wars.