A surge for Afghanistan?

Jul. 25 - Can the lessons learned from the surge in Iraq apply to Afghanistan?

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain as well as President George W. Bush all agree on one thing -- more U.S. troops should go to Afghanistan.Violence increases in Afghanistan. In May and June more international troops died there than were killed in Iraq. Increasingly public attention has turned back to what was sometimes called the "forgotten war."In fact, Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain as well as President George W. Bush all agree on one thing -- more U.S. troops should go to Afghanistan. With the last of the so-called surge troops now out of Iraq, can that serve as an example for Afghanistan? Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll in Baghdad was made available to Reuters by the Pentagon.SOUNDBITE: Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll, saying (English):"It acts as a model or an example of what a counterinsurgency is all about. First, establish that security, then help them rebuild their lives and economy so they have jobs so there is no real wedge there for insurgents to take advantage of."In Iraq, the United States has around 147,000 troops. John Nagl of the Center for a New American Security is the author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam SOUNDBITE: John Nagl of the Center for a New American Security, saying (English):"The results have been far better than I could have hoped for in Iraq, and I am very hopeful that we are going to be able to apply some of the lessons learned even more rapidly in Afghanistan."There are currently about 214,000 foreign and Afghan security personnel on the ground in Afghanistan. Nagl who helped write the Army's new Counterinsurgency Field Manual says it would take upwards for 500,000 troops to implement a counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan,SOUNDBITE: John Nagl of the Center for a New American Security, saying (English):"A good strategy to think about as we go forward is American troops initially conducting counter insurgency while other American units help build up local security forces. And, over time in Afghanistan as in Iraq transition from American forces doing counterinsurgency with more host nations forces doing it with Amercian solders embedded. That's the direction I think we will go in both wars."The increased political attention to Afghanistan reflects widespread Western concern over rising violence, which is at its highest levels since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters