Gates endorses expansion of Afghan army
Washington, 8 August (IranVNC)—US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed a multi-billion dollar plan to significantly increase the size of Afghanistan’s army over the next five years, the Pentagon announced today.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, August 08, 2008
19:30GMT—3:30PM/EST
US – AFGHANISTAN – ARMY
Washington, 8 August (IranVNC)—US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed a multi-billion dollar plan to significantly increase the size of Afghanistan’s army over the next five years, the Pentagon announced today.
The plan, initially proposed by the Afghan government, will expand Afghanistan’s National Army from 65,000 to 122,000 active-duty forces.
The U.S. will fund a portion of the increase, which could cost up to $20 billion, but Defense Department Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said that Washington would seek assistance from other countries.
“It would be wrong to assume we are going to shoulder this burden alone,” AFP quoted Morell as saying.
He continued: “We are going to work with our allies to determine how we can finance this necessary growth.”
Gates is also planning to unify the military command for US troops in Afghanistan, bringing most of the 34,000 US troops there under the command of Lieutenant General David McKiernan – head of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force [ISAF].
Currently, 15,000 US troops are under McKiernan’s command. US Central Command controls the additional 19,000 US troops in that country.
Sources: Agence France-Presse, Reuters
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