Afstan: US to send yet another brigade, to train Afghans

Looks like the administration is getting really serious.

President Bush approved 8,200 more U.S. troops for Iraq and Afghanistan on top of reinforcements already ordered to those two countries, the White House said Saturday, a move that comes amid a fiery debate in Washington over the Iraq war.

The president agreed to send 4,700 troops to Iraq in addition to the 21,500 he ordered to go in January, mainly to provide support for those combat forces and to handle more anticipated Iraqi prisoners. He also decided to send a 3,500-member brigade to Afghanistan to accelerate training of local forces [emphasis added: a very good idea - MC], doubling his previous troop increase to fight a resurgent Taliban.

...aides released a letter he signed Friday night aboard Air Force One as he flew to Uruguay from Brazil, asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for $3.2 billion in emergency funding to pay for the additional units. He proposed cuts in other spending to offset the cost...

For Afghanistan, it would fund Bush's decision announced last month to extend a temporary increase of 3,200 U.S. troops there "for the foreseeable future." It would also pay for an additional 3,500-member training brigade, a move that was not previously announced...

The hope is to have a 70,000 strong Afghan National Army by December 2008, three years earlier than previously planned. I wonder if our media will give this latest US troop increase--and its purpose--much play. The more the ANA is capable, the sooner ISAF can start drawing down.