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Central and South Asia
President Obama’s Afghanistan plan
President Barack Obama has ordered 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan but warned America would begin to withdraw its military forces by 2011. Soldiers will be deployed as quickly as possible, bringing US troop strength in the country to more than 100,000. World security was at stake, Mr Obama said in his address to the nation at West Point, calling for more allied troops. The mission in Afghanistan, he added, was to defeat al-Qaeda, reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny them the ability to overthrow the government.
Full text and video of the President’s speech
Coverage on The World:
Special coverage of President Obama’s speech:
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Dec 3: The official reaction in Pakistan has been somewhat muted, but the press is speaking out strongly against the President’s new plan. The World’s Jason Margolis reports.
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Dec 2: The top American commander in Afghanistan spoke to his officers in Kandahar after the speech. General Stanley McChrystal said the new plan is not “the beginning of the end” but rather “the end of the beginning.” Anchor Marco Werman speaks with reporter Ben Gilbert who was in Kandahar for the general’s speech.
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Dec 2: Following the President’s speech Secretary of State Clinton, Defense Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen went before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington to give testimony on the new plan for Afghanistan. The World’s Jason Margolis reports.
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Background Brief: Taliban insurgency
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Dec 1: Ahead of the President’s address to the nation, Ben Gilbert reports from Kandahar on the mood there among US troops anticipating President Obama’s new plan for the war in Afghanistan.
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Nov 30: Marco Werman speaks with reporter Ben Gilbert, who is at a US military base in Kandahar. American troops there are anxious to hear what their commander in chief will say on Tuesday.
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Nov 30: Britain has confirmed that it’s sending more troops to Afghanistan as well. The World’s Laura Lynch reports that the British announcement may have previewed the President’s speech.
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Nov 25: Marco Werman talks with Andrew Bacevich of Boston University, Monica Toft at Harvard University, Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Peter Bergen of the New America Foundation about what “finishing the job” means.
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Nov 24: Afghan President Karzai recently said the strength of Afghan security forces had to be bolstered and the role of international forces reduced. The World’s Katy Clark reports on how capable the Afghan forces are.
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Nov 20: Katy Clark looks at the question: what if the US loses in Afghanistan? What will that mean for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India?
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Nov 11:The World’s Jeb Sharp looks at options for what any additional troops would actually do.
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American Influence podcast: Tough Choices for US in Afghanistan (Sep 4)
July 2009: Reporter Charles Sennott covered the Taliban from their rise in Afghanistan, to their ouster in 2001. In 2009 Sennott returned to Afghanistan and Pakistan to do a series of reports on the history and fluctuating fortunes of the Taliban.
Listen to our four part series ‘Inside the Taliban’
Jeb Sharp’s award winning series ‘How Wars End’ (Oct 2008)
From the BBC:
- Mark Mardell’s America: Obama’s Afghan announcement
- The Taliban conflict
- ISAF troops in Afghanistan
- US troops: Obama’s Afghan options
Other weblinks:
- PBS NewsHour: Analysis of Obama’s speech
- New York Times: “Obama’s Speech on Afghanistan to Envision Exit”
- New York Times: “At War” blog
- Foreign Policy: The AFPAK channel
- Washington Post: The AFPAK war
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