PDA

View Full Version : Pentagon taps 4,100 for Afghan surge this summer



nastyleg
02-02-2010, 04:16 PM
Pentagon taps 4,100 for Afghan surge this summer
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, February 3, 2010

ARLINGTON, Va. — Pentagon officials on Tuesday tapped 4,100 solders to deploy to Afghanistan this summer as part of President Barack Obama’s troop increase.

About 3,200 troops from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell, Ky., will deploy along with another 900 culled from other unspecific units.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told a Senate panel Tuesday that 4,500 surge troops were in country, with 18,000 more slated to arrive this spring. The remainder of the total 30,000 would arrive by the fall, joining nearly 70,000 others already deployed.

The president announced the surge in December after a months-long war strategy review with his war cabinet, including top U.S. war commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and Central Command leader, Gen. David Petraeus.

“Right now, the Taliban believe they’re winning,” Mullen said. “Eighteen months from now, if we’ve executed our strategy, we’ll know that they won’t.”

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67748