Afghanistan strategy

US President Barack Obama is scheduled to unveil the long-awaited new policy on Afghanistan in a national address on Tuesday night from the US Military Academy at West Point and he is also expected to request extra troops from his often skeptical European NATO allies.

The announcement comes after more than three months of talks with advisors on a revised war strategy for the country, where the security situation has worsened dramatically in the face of a growing Taliban insurgency.

The deployment of up to 30,000 US troops in addition to the 68,000 US soldiers already stationed in Afghanistan is expected to be a major part of the new policy.

Germany remains reticent

While Italy said it would increase its force, and Britain announced it would send 500 more soldiers this month to boost its Afghan contingent, Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear on Tuesday that Germany would wait for the results of an international conference on Afghanistan next month in London before deciding whether to commit more forces.

Germany has the third-largest troop contingent in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led force with about 4,000 soldiers. Later this week, the German parliament plans to extend the troops' mandate, without, however, allowing for any additional soldiers.

The French newspaper Le Monde reported that France, currently the fourth-largest contributor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) contingent in Afghanistan, has been asked for 1,500 more soldiers.

According to the paper, French Defence Minister Herve Morin merely said France could provide more army and police training and reconstruction aid.

War weariness

In the United States, Obama is also fighting a battle with public opinion.

With more than 900 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan over the past eight years, opinion polls in the United States show dwindling public support for the war.

The president must convince a nation plagued by rising unemployment, tight family budgets and a soaring fiscal deficit that increasing troop numbers will defeat the insurgent Taliban and eventually lead to a return of US troops.

More than 40,000 soldiers deployed from other NATO and non-NATO nations are also based in Afghanistan, but the United States is by far the largest contributor of troops.

The US President has discussed the planned strategy shift with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He has also spoken with French and Russian presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev, as well as other European leaders.

db/ AFP/AP/ Reuters/dpa

Editor: Kyle James