PKonweb Report

President Obama upped the ante on US war on terror by announcing to send additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, and issued sharp warnings to the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan to embrace his strategy.

His new strategy involves, as before, denying al-Qaeda sanctuary in Afghanistan and Pakistan, defeating the terrorist group and dismantling it. Obama said Al Qaeda had safe havens in the tribal areas of Pakistan and they ought to be destroyed as it is a matter of ‘vital national interest’.

At present there are around 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan, and with additional 30,000 boots on ground, Obama hopes to give a quick punch to the bad guys before withdrawal starts in July 2011.

Stressing a private warning he has sent to Islamabad, Obama said: "We . . . have made it clear that we cannot tolerate a safe haven for terrorists whose location is known and whose intentions are clear."

The securities of the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan are combined, Obama stressed, stating that US success in Afghanistan depended on effective partnership with Pakistan promising to maintain a long-term partnership with Pakistani people..

Before announcing his strategy in a spech at West Point in New York Tuesday evening, President Obama spoke to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and gave Indian PM Manmohan Singh a preview of his Afghan strategy.

The US president then called President Asif Zardari, took him into confidence over his new strategy. His call was later followed by a phone call to Mian Nawaz Sharif by Mr Richard Holbrooke - special envoy for Af-PAk.

Obama’s announcement to commit additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan puts an end to a tortuous exercise of a review of his Afghan strategy that has taken the better part of the past four months.

His speech also laid out an exit strategy: The surge will see additional boots on ground as early as January 2010 and will complete by July 2010. According to his plan, if all goes well, by July 2001 US troops shall start coming back home. It is intended to provide a quick and powerful counterpunch as a resurgent Taliban gains ground in Afghanistan, but would cost the cash-strapped US Treasury an estimated $30 billion to $40 billion more per year.

Pentagon officials were surprised by estimates that 30,000 additional troops would be deployed within six months, with many Democrats opposing it both publicly and privately.