Sources: Obama Will Send 40-45K More to Afghanistan

White House denies a decision has made, but UK's move would make more sense

By Will McCahill, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 14, 2009 9:00 PM CDT

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Sources: Obama Will Send 40-45K More to Afghanistan — President Barack Obama and his national security team listen to an onscreen presentation on Afghanistan today. (The White House)

President Obama will announce a troop surge in Afghanistan next week, sources tell the BBC, with Afghanistan’s ambassador to the US saying Obama will commit as many as 45,000. The White House says there’s been no decision, with spokesman Robert Gibbs sniffing that the BBC wouldn’t be the first to get such news anyway.

Britain announced today it was sending 500 more troops, a move it wouldn’t likely have made without assurances that more US help was in the works. “All indications are that President Obama is honoring the request by Gen. McChrystal,” Ambassador Said Jawad said today; asked if that meant 40-45,000 troops, he replied, “This is part of the request, yes.”
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