Afghan Escalation Falling Behind Schedule

Only 18,000 Troops Will Arrive by Late Spring

The Obama Administration’s latest escalation into Afghanistan isn’t going as planned. Though officials had initially anticipated that the 30,000 troops would arrive by spring, they are now revising their estimates.

The Pentagon now says that around 18,000 troops will actually be in Afghanistan by late spring, including the 4,500 troops which have already arrived. Pentagon officials say the schedule was changed because the administration didn’t want to shorten troops’ rest time at home.

Most of the rest of the remaining 12,000 troops will arrive at some point in the summer, with virtually all of them in place by August.

Admiral Michael Mullen had initially rejected the idea that the escalation would not be able to take place by spring, saying that the Pentagon’s logistics experts could easily handle it. With over 100,000 troops in Iraq and 68,000 already in Afghanistan before the surge, the ability to add more troops in such a short period of time was simply insurmountable.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.