Obama to send 30,000 more troops,seek Afghan exit

8220;I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months,our troops will begin to come home,8221; he said.

In his much anticipated Af-Pak policy speech at the elite West Point Military Academy in New York,Obama said that the 30,000 additional troops will be deployed in the first part of 2010. This,he said,will be the fastest pace possible so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centres.

Describing Pak-Afghan border as the 8220;epicentre of the violent extremism practised by al-Qaeda8221;,the US President said,8221;it is from here that we were attacked on 9/11,and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.8221;

8220;The people and governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan are endangered. And the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan,because we know that al-Qaeda and other extremists seek nuclear weapons,and we have every reason to believe that they would use them,8221; he said.

Pakistani Taliban have targeted the country8217;s nuclear installations on three occasions in the past and have threatened to lay their hands on the atomic arsenal,causing serious concerns in the West.

The troop increase will put a heavy strain on the US military,which maintains a force of more than 100,000 in Iraq and already has 68,000 in Afghanistan. The additional troops will take the number of US soldiers in Afghanistan to nearly 100,000 and will cost USD 30 billion for the first year alone.

Observing that this was not just America8217;s war,Obama said since 9/11,al Qaeda8217;s safe-havens have been the source of attacks against London,Amman and Bali.

He made it clear that pressure on al-Qaeda and extremists will be stepped up in coming months. 8220;We must keep the pressure on al-Qaeda,and to do that,we must increase the stability and capacity of our partners in the region.8221;

8220;Our overarching goal remains the same: to disrupt,dismantle,and defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan,and to prevent its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future,8221; the President said.

And to meet that goal,he said,the US will deny al-Qaeda a safe haven and will reverse the Taliban8217;s momentum and crush its ability to overthrow the government.

8220;We8217;re in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country. But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan. That8217;s why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border,8221; he said justifying inclusion of Pakistan in his Afghan policy.

Stating that this was an international effort,Obama said he has asked that US commitment be joined by contributions from its allies.

8220;Some have already provided additional troops,and we are confident that there will be further contributions in the days and weeks ahead,8221; said Obama,the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces,in his 35-minute long nationally televised speech.

8220;Our friends have fought and bled and died alongside us in Afghanistan. Now,we must come together to end this war successfully. For what8217;s at stake is not simply a test of NATO8217;s credibility what8217;s at stake is the security of our Allies,and the common security of the world,8221; Obama said.

The US president said the capacity of Afghanistan8217;s Security Forces and government must be strengthened so that they can take lead responsibility for Afghanistan8217;s future.

8220;Taken together,these additional US and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces,and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011,8221; he said.

8220;Just as we have done in Iraq,we will execute this transition responsibly,taking into account conditions on the ground. We will continue to advise and assist Afghanistan8217;s forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul.

8220;But it will be clear to the Afghan government and,more importantly,to the Afghan people that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country,8221; Obama said.