{"id":1181,"date":"2017-11-17T01:55:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T01:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2017-11-17T01:56:02","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T01:56:02","slug":"surge-in-troops-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/2017\/11\/17\/surge-in-troops-in-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Surge in troops in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Source: Military Times<\/h1>\n
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Surge in Afghanistan is underway; 14,000 US troops now in country<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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By:\u00a0<\/span>Shawn Snow<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u2003\u00a0<\/i>\u00a07 hours ago<\/span><\/p>\n
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A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, sits on the flightline at Kandahar, Afghanistan, during cargo offload, Nov. 12, 2010. The 816th EAS, offloaded over 100,000 pounds of cargo. (Staff Sgt. Andy Kin\/Air Force)<\/h4>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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\nWASHINGTON \u2014 There are now approximately 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the Joint Staff Director.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The new estimate of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is about 3,000 higher than the 11,000 previously reported by the Pentagon earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The number reflects the arrival of several thousand more troops as part of the Trump administration\u2019s new South Asia strategy which is expected to raise U.S. troop levels in the region by just over 3,500 troops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAs you know, we just completed a force flow into Afghanistan, so the new number for Afghanistan is approximately 14,000,\u201d McKenzie told reporters at a televised briefing at the Pentagon. It \u201cmight be a little above that, might be a little below that, as we flex according to the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The new force level represent the majority of the troop increase expected by the new Afghanistan strategy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There were worries that the devastating destruction caused by this year\u2019s hurricane season in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico would delay U.S. troop deployments to the region into next year. Troop transport aircraft to include C-17s and C-5s needed to deploy U.S. forces around the globe were tied up assisting humanitarian relief in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, those fears have been put to rest as several thousand additional forces have just moved into the region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cGoes to show you the robustness of the force and the ability to flex,\u201d McKenzie told reporters. \u201cIt is a tremendous story about the global reach of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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