Registan.net

So, it’s official: “well north of” 20,000 new troops for Afghanistan by 2010 or so. Four combat brigades and an aviation brigade will bring more troops for securing the tenuous holds we have there, and even allow for the provision of air power (with luck, along Route 1 from Ghazni through Zabul—a route so easy to secure from the air the Soviets never lost control of it during the 1980s).

Even better news is, most of the troops are set to go to the East, an incredibly violent yet ignored region in the country (the vast majority of media attention focuses on the south). Of course, the “Surge” rhetoric still applies, so there is no way to tell if there will be any coordination, any “surge” in the embedded trainers (who are incredibly effective), or any concerted effort to mesh western forces and ANSF.

One last hope: maybe now incoming brigades can be ordered to go out on patrol and execute COIN methods, instead of the current situation where they get to choose whether or not to.

Stumble it!