The deployments, which would take place faster than the 12- to 18-month rollout expected by the Pentagon, represent a major gamble by the president in the face of doubts among his fellow Democrats and popular uncertainty about the US strategy. Obama came to office vowing a greater focus on Afghanistan but has faced scepticism from some advisers about putting more US lives and money on the line when the government in Kabul is widely seen as corrupt and inept.
The new strategy would increase the total number of US troops in Afghanistan to 100,000 by late May or early June, from about 68,000 now. It is intended to provide a quick and powerful counterpunch as a resurgent Taliban gains ground in Afghanistan, but would cost the cash-strapped US Treasury an estimated $30 billion to $40 billion more per year. After three months of deliberations that some critics called dithering, Obama is to lay out his plan in a televised speech to cadets at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, at 8 pm EST/(0100 GMT Wednesday).
The escalation may not be easy to sell to Obama's fellow Democrats, who control Congress, and to ordinary Americans who are weary of war after years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and want more focus on reviving the weak US economy. Obama plans to stress that Washington does not have an open-ended commitment in Afghanistan, eight years after US-led forces toppled the Taliban government that sheltered al Qaeda militants blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks. His challenge is to reverse what US military commanders call a deteriorating situation due to a resurgent Taliban.