Source: Campaign for Liberty
Washington D.C., October 13, 2009 – In an unannounced move, the Administration has authorized the deployment of 15,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. This deployment is in addition to the 21,000 troops previously announced by President Obama in March of this year. The move will bring the total amount of U.S. forces deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq to levels greater than the peak of the Iraq surge.
“Candidate Obama ran a campaign highly critical of Bush administration foreign policy and promised to bring troops home from overseas. But President Obama seems to be working from the same playbook as the Bush Administration, and his campaign promises seem to be ringing empty,” said John Tate, President of Campaign for Liberty. “Instead of winding things down, this president seems intent on increasing our involvement in this and other foreign adventures.”
In following a protocol similar to former President Bush’s Defense department, President Obama did not mention plans to deploy the additional troops during his initial declaration of troop increases. These increases, as it turns out, are part of a larger plan to reach a 68,000 troop force by the end of the year. All this comes as the administration continues to weigh whether to deploy the 40,000 troops requested by the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
