United States President Barack Obama this week announced his administration’s strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After consulting with the Afghan and Pakistani governments, and U.S. Congress, Obama has decided to apply new military and diplomatic strategies to the troubled region.
His first move has been to order the deployment of 17,000 troops to help in the fight against the Taliban in the South-Eastern parts of Afghanistan, as Obama starts his shift in focus away from the war in Iraq.
The added troops pulled from Iraq will also help train the Afghan Security Forces in the battle against insurgents. “That is how we will prepare Afghans to take responsibility for their security,” President Obama said, “this will ultimately be able to bring our troops home”.
Also, in a diplomatic attempt to quell increased activity by extremists in Pakistan, “the ability of the Afghan and Pakistani people to build peaceful and prosperous lives—and the future national security of the United States—requires nothing less,” Obama said.