NEW YORK (PAN): A top US military official said Thursday that Afghanistan as of now requires 10,000 to 12,000 additional troops to fight out the increasing power of the Taliban, which the Secretary of Defense acknowledged is difficult under present circumstances. "We have additional force requirements, specifically for Afghanistan, up three additional brigades," said Admiral Mike Mullen, Joint Chief of Staff, during a hearing in the US Congress, convened by the House Armed Services Committee. This is on top of the some 3,200 Marines being sent by the US now, he said, adding they are there and already making a difference, but they're not enough. "We have got a requirement for a training brigade and for up to two additional combat brigades in Afghanistan down the road," Mullen said referring to the current ground realities in the country. Essentially, he said it would translate between 10,000 and 12,000 troops. Given the current troop situation, Mullen said: "We're not going to be able to fill that until we've got forces that are released from other obligations, principally in Iraq at the brigade size." With the bulk of the US ground forces deployed to Iraq, Mullen said the US army as a result is unable to prepare for or deploy for other contingencies in other places. "We are not training to full spectrum capabilities. We are not engaging sufficiently with partner militaries. We cannot now meet extra force requirements in places like Afghanistan," he said. Mullen said he is deeply concerned about the current situation in Afghanistan. "The Taliban is growing bolder, suicide attacks are on the rise, and so is the trade in illegal narcotics. In this economy of force operation, we do what we can. But doing what we can in Afghanistan is not doing all that we should," he said. Testifying along with Mullen, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, conceded this is difficult to fill."The desire of the commander, it's not a formal requirement at this point, in Afghanistan to have three additional brigades, in my view, is a requirement that NATO will not meet," he said. "I think we will get additional forces from a number of different countries and I think they will have real capabilities, but I think they will not add up to another 10,000 to 12,000 troops that would be represented by three brigades," he said. Acknowledging that getting more troops from other NATO allies, specially in Europe depended a lot on their domestic politics, Gates said, he however has been successful in getting NATO approve a strategic vision statement on Afghanistan. The strategic vision statement, which spells out NATO goals in Afghanistan in next couple of years, Gates argued, could be used by the European governments in their domestic politics to try and educate their people about why the commitment in Afghanistan is important. --------------------------------------------- From Inside Jordan King Abdullah II: corrupt, human rights abuser, election rigger [The Jordanian ruler is one of the most frequent visitors to the White House. Who is he? What is the basis of his regime and why is he so welcome to Bush and the Corporate Zionist Media?]
Helpful points: 1- Each time there is an Arab summit going to take place, King Abdullah flies to Washington DC like that on March 4 to have the order from his boss Bush to destroy any attempt to unify Arabs. Notice that this visit precedes the Arabs summit which took place in Syria, an Arabic country Bush called terrorists. Most importantly, each time Israel plans to attack Palestinians, King Abdullah meets Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister, to give him his highest support!! 2- It has been said in international newspapers that the Jordan Intelligence Department, which has been coached by CIA, has played a major role in spying on other Arab countries in favor of Mosad, Israeli Intelligence Department. They torture prisoners, and they have had a hand of torturing some people in Jordan before sending them to Gwantanamo Bay. Imad Magniah, a former army leader of HizboAllah, was killed after Jordan Intelligence succeeded in identifying his place and the car he was usually driving. 3- The judicial system in Jordan is dependent, and a tool in the hands of royal family and their unelected governments. 4- King Abdullah has a double face policy. When talking to his people, and other international leaders, he pretends he's a human right defender, and Jordan has become a leading country in this field. However, he's ordering his security forces, behind the scenes, to terrorize local journalists, human rights, and political activists. Leading critics of King Abdullah and his government have spent time in prison because simply they have called for greater freedom. Such cases: A- Dr. Al-Abbadi who is still in jail because he called for freedom of speech and full eradication of corruption in the kingdom, as well as stop human right abuses B- Former Member of Parliament, Twajan Faisal, was prevented from running for 2008 elections by King Abdullah II. He wants the government to pass laws in the parliament without any objections. C- Dr. Ali-Alottom, former Member of Parliament, was abducted on August, 2007. While he was going to Fajer prayer, a gang had punched, kicked, and beaten him, and shaved part of his beard, before throwing him out in a remote area in Irbid. Dr. Ali holds a PhD in Arabic. He's a political and human rights activist. Till now, the police have failed to identify the abductors, though Dr. Ali directly accused the department of Intelligence. They want to plant fear and panic amongst people in general and political and human rights activists in specific. This is the democracy King Abdullah II talking about 5- Although King Abdullah says that he's planning a better life to all Jordanians, the number of poor people has increased in incredible numbers. Almost All Jordanians are under poverty line except those corrupt who are friends of him, and his wife. Two people were deadly shot by police officers three weeks ago, when they were caught in the Amman Garbage looking for some plastic stuff to use and food to eat!! King Abdullah II has made of Amman, especially the west where he lives, a dirty place for fornication. Many newly born kids were found in the streets and garbage in the last three months. This is what King Abdullah meant by 'Personal Freedom.' 6- According to Jordanian Ministry of Finance, the internal and foreign debt rose at the rate of 15.1% reaching a record high of 10.34$billion. This raises the question: where is the external funding gone!! Don't Know! I tell you: King Abdullah II is a big gambler! Vegas knows him! 7- Most of the members of government and senate are spouses, siblings, close relatives of other high level decision makers in the government and royal family. 8- Historical Note: Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell and T. E. Lawrence (Both were commanders of the order of the British Empire in 1920s are recognized as almost wholly responsible for creating the Hashemite dynasty in Jordan and the modern state of Iraq. They gave them to what is so called now Royal Family. This family has a long history cooperation with the English Empire who gave Palestine to Jews at that time!!! Most Jordanians don't know this fact. No history book written by Jordanian Educators talked about this! If they talked, they would have been tortured by the royal family! ------------------------------- To unsubscribe, simply write UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line and click on SEND. --------------------------------------
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