Main focus of Wednesday, November 25, 2009

More troops for Afghanistan

US President Barack Obama plans to present his new Afghanistan strategy next week. The scenario is expected to include a troop withdrawal plan, but will no doubt mean sending more soldiers in the short term.

Berner Zeitung - Switzerland

US President Barack Obama will shortly announce his decision on his Afghanistan strategy. The daily Berner Zeitung conjectures about what form it will take. "In an assessment of the situation General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, has called for an additional 40,000 soldiers to be sent to avoid a defeat at the hands of the Taliban. Experts reckon Obama will announce the deployment of 32,000 to 35,000 additional troops. According to statements from government circles, the decision has been delayed because Obama wants to present an exit strategy at the same time as a troop surge. That will involve a medium-term plan for transferring responsibility for security to the Afghan armed forces and police, followed by a gradual withdrawal of foreign troops." (25/11/2009)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » U.S., » Afghanistan

Corriere della Sera - Italy

Italians must finally understand that sending more troops to Afghanistan is probably the only way to solve the conflict, writes the liberal conservative daily Corriere della Sera: "It may seem paradoxical to send more troops to Afghanistan today if we're just going to pull them out tomorrow. ... Nevertheless this is exactly the American president's strategy. ... It is a high-risk calculation to which the Atlantic Alliance must react quickly, starting with the scatterbrained Italians. Yes, we shed honest tears over our fallen soldiers, but we also have the habit of quickly forgetting the war that killed them. ... It is no longer possible to say we have done our utmost. It is impermissible that we act alone or do less than the others. And if someone could explain that to the Italians perhaps public opinion would finally get a better understanding of why we're in Afghanistan at all." (25/11/2009)

» more information (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Italy, » U.S., » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Franco Venturini

Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland

The anticipated decision by US President Barack Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan could end in a disaster, writes the left-liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza: "Obama has allowed himself to be won over by the generals who tested a similar strategy in Iraq. There the pressure on the civilian population resulted in a massive increase in violence, and Iraqi popular support for the terrorists and partisans rose considerably. ... With an increase in the number of soldiers in Afghanistan it could be that the terror will decrease, the Afghans - like the Iraqis before them - will start taking care of themselves and the Western coalition forces will slowly pull out. Or the country could sink into chaos." (25/11/2009)

» full article (external link, Polish)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S., » Afghanistan

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, November 25, 2009