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Gates: 2-4 years of big Afghan role for US troops

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Johnny Asia

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Dec 6, 2009, 12:00:32 PM12/6/09
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Gates: 2-4 years of big Afghan role for US troops

WASHINGTON � Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Americans should
expect a significant U.S. military presence in Afghanistan for two
years to four years more.

Just as in Iraq, the U.S. eventually will turn over provinces to local
security forces, allowing the United States to bring the number of
troops down steadily, according to Gates, who appeared on three Sunday
talk shows with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to discuss
President Barack Obama's new Afghan war plan.

That plan includes an increase of 30,000 U.S. troops, followed by a
scheduled transition to a greater role for Afghan forces that would
start in July 2011. Obama's plan would increase to 100,000 the number
of U.S. troops there, marking the largest expansion of the war since
it began eight years ago.

Gates acknowledged that the additional U.S. forces will mean more
casualties at first

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