President Obama briefed his generals and called world leaders yesterday to give them a heads-up on the Afghanistan troop surge he will outline in tonight’s long-awaited speech.
Obama phoned the heads of Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, India and other countries to describe the new strategy that he officially ordered his military chiefs to begin carrying out on Sunday night, officials said.
The rest of the world will get the details in what is expected to be a 40-minute, nationally broadcast address by the president from West Point.
Among the new developments:
* White House spokesman Robert Gibbs emphasized that the new strategy will focus on training Afghan troops, who eventually will replace US forces.
The president “will make clear that this is not an open-ended commitment,” he said.
* Gibbs said Obama will “touch on” the cost of the war and how to pay for it.
The White House has estimated that each additional soldier deployed will cost $1 million a year. The Washington Post reported that Obama will announce 34,000 troops will be deployed. That would mean an additional expense of $30 billion-plus.
* British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said his country will send 500 more soldiers to Afghanistan. That will raise the UK deployment to more than 10,000.
“I believe over the coming months, even more countries will respond” by sending additional troops, Brown told Parliament.
* After speaking to Obama for 40 minutes yesterday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed that his 3,400 soldiers will remain in the NATO-led force until Afghanistan is “pacified and sovereign.” But his defense minister said there are no plans to increase the number.
* Obama welcomed to the Oval Office Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who said his troops in Afghanistan would remain “for the long haul.” Australia raised its commitment to about 1,500 troops earlier this year.
Obama is expected to outline a time frame for the escalation and then the exit of US forces.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has told lawmakers that a troop drawdown could begin by 2013, while the White House said it expected US forces out of the country by 2017 or 2018.
Before leaving Washington, Obama is expected to brief 31 key members of Congress.