Official: Afghan buildup involves 30,000 troops

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama plans to send 30,000 more troops to be deployed over six months, a senior administration official told The Associated Press Tuesday, escalating the 8-year-old war.

In his prime-time speech to the nation Tuesday night, Obama also will lay out a rough timeframe, including some dates, for when the main U.S. military mission will end.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the details had not yet been announced.

The 30,000 new troops will bring the total in Afghanistan to more than 100,000 U.S. forces. The main mission of the new troops will be to reverse Taliban gains and secure population centers in the volatile south and east parts of the country.

And the primary path for the disengagement that Obama will outline in the speech at West Point will be the stepped-up training of Afghan police and security forces.

The new infusion of troops had been envisioned to take place over a year, or even more, because force deployments in Iraq and elsewhere make it logistically difficult, if not impossible, to go faster. But Obama directed his military planners to make the changes necessary to speed up the Afghanistan additions, the official said.

Obama also insisted that a specific withdrawal scenario be built into the process of adding new forces.

The official would not disclose either the specific withdrawal date that Obama has in mind nor the changes the military will be required to make to get the troop deployments on the president's timeline.

All of the new troops are expected to be deployed by next summer.