(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 27, 2009: President Barack Obama on Friday will unveil a new US strategy for the war in Afghanistan designed to turn the tide against a growing insurgency, the White House said.
As Obama briefed lawmakers on his plan Thursday, defense officials said the president was planning to send an additional 4,000 troops to train Afghan security forces later this year. 
President Obama holds an 'Open For Questions' town hall style meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington.
The move to deploy an extra brigade follows Obama's decision last month to send in 17,000 reinforcements to take on insurgents challenging the Kabul government in the south and east of the country.
‘The president is making calls and briefing members of Congress based on the conclusion of that review, that the president will announce tomorrow at the White House,’ spokesman Robert Gibbs told a news conference.
The strategy is expected to rely on more US boots on the ground, expanding Kabul's security forces, wooing ‘moderate’ insurgents, stepping up civilian aid efforts and a diplomatic push focused on Pakistan's role.
Obama over the weekend said it was crucial to set out an approach that would allow the United States to eventually leave the country, after more than seven years of war.
‘There's got to be an exit strategy,’ Obama told CBS television's ‘60 Minutes’ program.
‘There's got to be a sense that this is not a perpetual drift.’ Outlines of the blueprint have emerged in recent weeks, including plans to bolster development projects and tackle insurgent havens across the border in Pakistan.
Officials said the strategy would likely bring no major surprises when it is announced on Friday.
‘Separate elements of this have already been discussed in other public forums,’ a US defense official told AFP.
The ‘civilian surge’ planned by the administration would involve hundreds of experts to help with agricultural, administrative and other development projects designed to improve local and regional government, officials said.
Even before the strategy review was finished, Obama approved reinforcements of 17,000 to join the 38,000-strong US force along with other Nato troops.
An additional brigade of 4,000 will arrive later to help with the recruitment and training of a larger Afghan army and police force, which the administration is betting will one day take over security duties.
Compared to December, US troops levels are set to double by the end of the summer, Pentagon officials said.
The day before the president was to present his strategy, his pick to be ambassador to Kabul warned that the new approach in Afghanistan would fail unless Pakistan cracks down on extremists.
President Obama holds an 'Open For Questions' town hall style meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington.
The move to deploy an extra brigade follows Obama's decision last month to send in 17,000 reinforcements to take on insurgents challenging the Kabul government in the south and east of the country.
‘The president is making calls and briefing members of Congress based on the conclusion of that review, that the president will announce tomorrow at the White House,’ spokesman Robert Gibbs told a news conference.
The strategy is expected to rely on more US boots on the ground, expanding Kabul's security forces, wooing ‘moderate’ insurgents, stepping up civilian aid efforts and a diplomatic push focused on Pakistan's role.
Obama over the weekend said it was crucial to set out an approach that would allow the United States to eventually leave the country, after more than seven years of war.
‘There's got to be an exit strategy,’ Obama told CBS television's ‘60 Minutes’ program.
‘There's got to be a sense that this is not a perpetual drift.’ Outlines of the blueprint have emerged in recent weeks, including plans to bolster development projects and tackle insurgent havens across the border in Pakistan.
Officials said the strategy would likely bring no major surprises when it is announced on Friday.
‘Separate elements of this have already been discussed in other public forums,’ a US defense official told AFP.
The ‘civilian surge’ planned by the administration would involve hundreds of experts to help with agricultural, administrative and other development projects designed to improve local and regional government, officials said.
Even before the strategy review was finished, Obama approved reinforcements of 17,000 to join the 38,000-strong US force along with other Nato troops.
An additional brigade of 4,000 will arrive later to help with the recruitment and training of a larger Afghan army and police force, which the administration is betting will one day take over security duties.
Compared to December, US troops levels are set to double by the end of the summer, Pentagon officials said.
The day before the president was to present his strategy, his pick to be ambassador to Kabul warned that the new approach in Afghanistan would fail unless Pakistan cracks down on extremists.
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