ISAS Briefs

The decision to send in more American troops to Afghanistan was a long time coming. The strategy was finalised by President Barack after he met with his war council on Monday, 23 November 2009. This was the tenth high level meeting chaired by the president a couple of days after his return from his first visit to Asia. The decision was announced on 1 December 2009 in a televised address to the nation delivered in front of the cadets of the West Point Academy. In that respect the president was following the precedence set by former President George H. W. Bush who had used the military as the backdrop for announcing some of his strategies. President Obama revealed at the point when he held the press conference with the visiting Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh that he had made up his mind of the troop level the United States will maintain in Afghanistan. The president walked a fine line between the two positions taken by his advisers: some wanted him to pursue what has come to be called the counter-insurgency approach while the latter advocated a counter-terrorism strategy. The first is aimed at using considerable amount of force to overcome insurgency while undertaking intensive development of the liberated terrain. The second is aimed at concentrating fire power on the strongholds from where the terrorists are launching their attacks. The strategy adopted by President Obama calls for a rapid build-up of the force in Afghanistan with the promise to begin the process of drawdown eighteen months after the troop build-up. During this period the Afghan force is to be built up with the expectation that as the Americans withdraw, the country's own military and police force would be able to take care of security.