WASHINGTON — Concerned about the faltering war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers on top of the 17,000 fresh combat troops he’s already ordered, people familiar with the forthcoming plan said Thursday.
Obama, who plans to lay out his revamped strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan today, also will call for increasing aid to neighboring Pakistan as long as its leaders confront militants in the border region.
Several sources said the strategy includes 20 recommendations for countering a persistent insurgency that spans the two countries’ border, including sending 4,000 U.S. trainers to try to increase the size of the Afghan army.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs would not discuss specifics of the plan but said Obama is beginning to discuss its findings with members of Congress and others. Obama’s top military advisers briefed key lawmakers Thursday.
In broad terms, Obama will define U.S. objectives as eliminating the threat of al-Qaeda to undermine or topple U.S.- backed elected governments or to launch attacks on the United States, its interests and allies, the sources said.
Sources described the recommendations on condition of anonymity because the final wording was not complete. The new plan identified al-Qaeda as the target in a larger network of insurgents who threaten U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, often from sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan.
The additional 4,000 troops devoted to training and advising the Afghan armed forces would head to Afghanistan this spring and summer. They come on top of about 17,000 combat and support troops Obama wants in place by the end of the summer.
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the training group is needed because there aren’t enough U.S. military advisers there now.
“We’ve got to increase the size (of the Afghan army) much more quickly than contemplated, and the trainers are the key to that,” said Levin, D-Mich.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it seemed like a viable strategy as long as the manpower is there. “I know we need more than the 17,000,” he said.
The forthcoming White House review also says the U.S. will add hundreds of civilian advisers to those already in Afghanistan. The so-called civilian surge would concentrate on improving life for ordinary Afghans and would include experts in agriculture in a country where subsistence farming is the norm. The civilians are also meant to help extend government services and the administration of justice.
The plan also broaches sharply increasing the size of Afghanistan’s security forces. Several defense officials said that could entail doubling the Afghan security force to almost 400,000.
The Obama strategy document deliberately avoids specific numbers, dollar amounts and timelines “in any domain,” a senior defense official said. He said the intent is to set goals and a new direction, with specifics of implementation to be worked out in coming months.
