Obama 'to lay out Afghan exit plan for US troops'
 Support for the Afghan mission among the US public has been falling |
President Barack Obama is to tell the American people that US troops will start to leave Afghanistan within three years, a senior official has said.
He will outline the rough withdrawal plan in a speech to the nation, when he will also announce a rapid six-month deployment of 30,000 extra troops.
Mr Obama has also asked Nato allies to send up to 10,000 more combat soldiers.
But France has refused, while Germany postponed any decision. The UK has agreed to send 500 more soldiers.
In Tuesday evening's much-anticipated speech at West Point military academy, Mr Obama will outline how his troop surge will take on the Taliban.
 | MARDELL'S AMERICA   The danger for the president is that this middling figure will annoy hawks, while annoying those who think any new build-up is undesirable   |
A senior administration official told AP news agency President Obama would tell the American people that US troops will start leaving Afghanistan "well before" his first term ends in 2012.
The US currently has 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, with foreign forces overall totalling more than 100,000.
A senior Pentagon official told the BBC the new troops would be made up of 9,000 Marines and 21,000 regular soldiers, including trainers.
Mr Obama has reached his deployment decision after more than three months of deliberations and 10 top-level meetings with advisers.
The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says for all the sense of deeper engagement, this hugely important speech will also be about how the US president intends to get out of Afghanistan.
The rising violence - more than 900 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan - and the chaos that followed August's discredited elections have fanned mounting American opposition to the eight-year-old war.
| OBAMA's SCHEDULE 2100 GMT: Meets Congressional leaders at White House 2230 GMT: Departs for West Point, New York 0100 GMT Weds: Address to the nation 0340 GMT Weds: Arrives back at the White House |
Earlier this year, the US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, warned America risked failure unless troop numbers were increased. He requested 40,000 more soldiers.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told MSNBC on Tuesday: "This is not an open-ended commitment, what we are doing is putting forward a comprehensive strategy and an end-game in Afghanistan."
He said the deployment would be accelerated to "deliver a punch quickly".
The US president has outlined the new military strategy to Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai. He is also thought to have briefed the leaders of Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says that while the speech will probably receive a cautious welcome from the Afghan government, many people in the country do not want any more foreign forces.
They say every time America sends more troops the security situation gets worse, and some question why the US is spending billions of dollars on the military - and not on aid and reconstruction.
An unnamed Nato diplomat told AP news agency on Tuesday that President Obama had asked European allies to contribute between 5,000 and 10,000 new troops to Afghanistan.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy's special envoy to Afghanistan told AFP news agency that France had ruled out sending more troops, although he said Paris might send military trainers.
In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference Germany would wait until after a 28 January conference in London on Afghanistan before deciding on any troop increases.
Italy has also said it will increase its force, although without saying by how much.
On Monday, Britain confirmed it was sending 500 more troops, taking the UK's total deployment there to 10,000.
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Commentary
I honestly don't know what the right decision is. On one hand the Afghans don't want us there and believe us to be bullies. On the other hand, realistically we're all that stands in there way between actual anarchy.
On one hand we've bombed hundreds of innocent people with drone attacks and enraged large parts of the country. On the other hand we've helped to stem the tide of the Taliban and train thousands of Afghan security forces.
But one of the most important facts here is that America can not afford the bill for Afghanistan, plain and simple.
So what do we do? Leave a country we're hated in and save billions of dollars we can invest in Healthcare? Stay in a country where we keep order and stability and reap the benefits of our labor maybe 2 decades or more onward?
As my friend once told me, "You don't have to have a position on everything." He's right. You assume you have all the facts in every case which I obviously don't.
On Afghanistan I'm completely clueless as to the answer and steps we should take. Obama's middle of the road approach seems proper and seems to support the Hawks and the Peace lovers.
At least in 2012 we'll be out of both wars and back in our country. Lets hope Iraq and Afghanistan can stand strong like Vietnam did.
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