[Peace-discuss] Change, and A New Beginning...

[C. G. Estabrook]

	US preparing for troop buildup in Afghanistan
	By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The military is beginning a big building effort in Afghanistan to 
house the roughly 20,000 additional troops who are expected to begin pouring in 
early next year, a top military officer said Friday.

Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker, deputy commander for operations for U.S. forces in 
Afghanistan, told Pentagon reporters that military leaders are anticipating a 
"very active winter" of insurgency attacks.

And while he provided few details, he said there is a "very huge building 
campaign that has already begun. We're pushing dirt as we speak to prepare for 
the arrival of these forces."

He could not quantify the number of buildings or contractors involved, but said 
the military has done several in-depth studies over the past month and a half to 
determine exactly how many buildings, helicopter pads, dining facilities and 
even latrines will be needed.

U.S. defense officials have said they will build up the number of forces in 
Afghanistan as soon as they are able to free up troop commitments in Iraq. 
Commanders in Afghanistan have said they need four more combat brigades, along 
with thousands of other support forces, including intelligence, surveillance, 
aviation and logistics personnel.

One combat brigade is expected to arrive in Afghanistan in January, but the 
other three have not yet been identified.

According to defense officials, the 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, based 
in Alaska, is expected to go to Afghanistan early next summer, but that unit 
will replace one that is already there and is scheduled to leave. The officials 
spoke on condition of anonymity because the final orders have not yet been signed.

Tucker said at least some of those extra forces will be Marines, but he would 
not say how many or when they might arrive.

Officials balk at likening the impending troop escalation in Afghanistan to the 
surge in Iraq that is credited in part for the decline in violence there. But 
some of the goals are the same.

Military leaders say they need to improve security and tamp down the stubborn 
insurgency in the more rural regions of the country, so they can reach out to 
the populations there. That strategy mirrors the counterinsurgency efforts in 
Iraq, where troops pushed into difficult neighborhoods to clear out militants, 
and maintained the security long enough for governance to take hold and 
reconstruction and repairs to begin.

In Afghanistan, however, the population if more far-flung, in rural communities 
that stretch up into the rugged mountains — where passage in the winter is 
sometimes impossible.

More troops are needed in order to get to some of those more remote locations, 
Tucker said.

He also repeated assertions that U.S. and NATO forces are prepared to fight on 
aggressively through the winter — a time when insurgent activity has 
historically slowed due to the harsh weather.

This year, military leaders have said they cannot relax and allow the enemy to 
rebuild during the cold months.

"We anticipate a very active, a very active winter," said Tucker, adding that 
forces will press to attack the insurgency in its safe havens — largely in the 
mountain border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "We see no change in our 
operation. And if he wants to continue to fight through the winter, we'll be 
here to fight him."

He added that the U.S. and NATO troops have already stepped up their 
counter-narcotics operations — an agreement that was reached by allied defense 
ministers at a meeting in Budapest earlier this year.

Some allies, he acknowledged, are reluctant to participate in more aggressive 
operations, but are contributing in other ways, such as helicopter 
transportation, medical evacuations and intelligence gathering.

There are currently 32,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, including 14,000 with the 
NATO-led coalition and 18,000 training the Afghan security forces and fighting 
insurgents.

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