Afghanistan Troop Increase Plus Last Year’s Addition is Pretty Close to McKiernan’s Request

This is kind of some back-of-the-envelope troop math, but when I wrote earlier that Obama’s new 17,000-troop increase to Afghanistan was lower than Gen. David McKiernan’s requests for around 30,000 troops, I should have noted that about 5000 additional soldiers and Marines were tapped last year to go to Afghanistan as well. (I don’t know the added Marine battalion — mea culpa — but the Army sent the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division to the Logar-Wardak area.) That puts the total near 23,000 — reasonably close to McKiernan’s request.

Also, Defense Secretary Bob Gates last month expressed reticence over Americanizing a war that he said badly needed an Afghan face. So maybe it’s not surprising that he would support giving McKiernan most but not all of his requested increase.