Afstan: Aussies to increase troop strength some 40% (some only temporary)

In the works for some time (current Aussie force composition at end of this post)--focus to be training the Afghans:

Expect more Afghanistan deaths says Kevin Rudd as force boosted to 1550
THE federal Government will boost troop levels in the Afghan conflict from 1100 to 1550 soldiers in a war Kevin Rudd acknowledges is getting more unpopular with Australians and will result in more combat deaths.

Announcing the modest increase yesterday, the Prime Minister said the main focus of Australia's military effort in southern Oruzgan would be training Afghan security forces and not combat operations.

A sharper diplomatic focus would be provided by the appointment of career diplomat and former defence chief Ric Smith as Australia's new special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan mimicking similar diplomatic moves by the US and Britain [and may increase pressure on our government to do something similar].

Canberra would also increase its civil aid program, including the dispatch of an extra 10 Australian Federal Police to help train their Afghan counterparts.

Mr Rudd made the statement flanked by Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and National Security Adviser Duncan Lewis.

Mr Rudd pointedly did not commit any extra combat troops to a war he admitted was becoming increasingly unpopular with ordinary Australians [emphasis added].

More Diggers would die in the conflict, he warned. "I am acutely conscious of the fact that I am placing more Australians in harm's way. I fear that more Australians will lose their lives in the fight that lies ahead."

Ten Australian soldiers have been killed in action since 2001 and more than 60 wounded.

Canberra's new military plans were discussed with US President Barack Obama during a phone call last week, Mr Rudd said.

But their deployment was not "open-ended". Australian troops were in Afghanistan to ensure the country did not revert to a Taliban terrorist haven, he said.

They were also there because of Australia's ANZUS Treaty obligations to the US, he added.

"We must not allow Afghanistan to once again become the unimpeded training ground and operating base for global terrorist activity [emphasis added, not what our government stresses--see Upperdate here; and remember that Mr Rudd is of the Labour Party, see 2) here]," Mr Rudd told reporters.

The new plan sees a 120-strong infantry company deployed for eight months to help bolster provincial security in the lead-up to August elections [so the ongoing increase will be quite a bit less than 40%].

Britain last night also announced a troop boost, from 8000 to 9000, to help to secure the country during the elections [apparently 700 actually, for a limited time--UK military have plans to send more if politicians agree].

Other Australian reinforcements include about 100 soldiers comprising two additional mentoring teams bringing to three the total number of ADF training teams in Oruzgan. Their main job would be overseeing the training of a 3300-strong Afghan National Army brigade, Mr Rudd said.

Our media, for some reason, do not seem to have reported this development--save for this.

Update: Other Aussie military news, at an Ottawa Citizen blog.