Sunday, December 21, 2003
U.S. Military Unveils Changes in Strategy in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 21 — The commander of the United States-led coalition force here announced today a new strategy and expansion of the military provincial reconstruction teams across the country.
The move is expected to have a "dramatic effect" on the security situation over the coming months, said the commander, Lt. Gen. David W. Barno.
The new approach will focus primarily on security, and will target the south and southeast of the country, regions that have born the brunt of a renewed Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgency this year...
In addition to strategy changes, there's also more money to be spent:
USAID, which is seeing its budget for Afghanistan increase from $400 million last year to $1 billion this year, will triple its staff in Afghanistan in the next two to three months, Andrew Natsios, head of USAID said in a visit to Kabul last week. At the moment USAID has a staff of 40 in the country.
$1 billion doesn't sound like a lot in comparison to some other places, like Iraq for instance, but considering Afghanistan is a country with very little infrastructure in the first place, $1 billion is a lot of money.
