The new surge

(via Reuters)

U.S. considers 3,000 more troops for Afghanistan

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will consider sending some 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan to thwart any spring offensive by Taliban militants, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

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Violence has surged in Afghanistan over the past two years, with the hardline Islamist Taliban fighting a guerrilla war in the south and east and carrying out high-profile suicide and car bombings across the country.

For months, Gates has pressed NATO allies to provide more troops for Afghanistan. But if the Pentagon chief backs the proposal, it will show Washington has concluded it will have to provide a large share of any extra combat forces.

Afghanistan was and is the necessary war.

And we have been losing it.

It would be nice to think the administration has decided to actually do something, but this minor bump in troop levels is more likely to be just another placebo - intended to pacify domestic, rather than foreign opposition.