17,000 more US troops head for Afghanistan

Barack Obama is to send 17,000 more US troops for the flagging war in Afghanistan, in his first significant move to change the course of a conflict that he has been told America is not winning

Wed, 18 Feb, 2009 - 07:38

Barack Obama is to send 17,000 more US troops for the flagging war in Afghanistan, in his first significant move to change the course of a conflict that he has been told America is not winning.

“This increase is necessary to stabilise a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires,” President Obama said in a statement.