WASHINGTON: The United States is considering sending extra 7,000 troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, a US daily reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said if the plan was to be approved, the number of US troops in the country would rise to about 40,000, and entail at least a modest reduction in troops from Iraq.
President George W. Bush told allies at a NATO summit in Bucharest last month that the United States would significantly increase its force levels in Afghanistan next year.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates also has pushed other European allies to provide combat troops and equipment to fill shortfalls in the volatile south, but the response so far has been tepid.
US mulls sending 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan
WASHINGTON: The United States is considering sending extra 7,000 troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, a US daily reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said if the plan was to be approved, the number of US troops in the country would rise to about 40,000, and entail at least a modest reduction in troops from Iraq.
President George W. Bush told allies at a NATO summit in Bucharest last month that the United States would significantly increase its force levels in Afghanistan next year.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates also has pushed other European allies to provide combat troops and equipment to fill shortfalls in the volatile south, but the response so far has been tepid.
