President Obama added 13,000 unannounced troops to Afghanistan

Shortly after President-elect Barack Obama became Commander-in-Chief, he immediately added 21,000 military personnel to the war in Afghanistan but in an unannounced move by the White House, Pres. Obama added at least another 13,000 troops that were unannounced by government officials. Currently, the Pentagon is deploying the 13,000, reports The Washington Post. The support forces, which include engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and others, were given very little attention by the Defense department and the Obama administration and which puts the total number of forces by the President at 34,000. Michael E. O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said, “There are admittedly some challenges over the next 10 to 12 months as we are downsizing in Iraq, and therefore any schedule for increasing in Afghanistan might have to be more gradual.” General Stanley A. McChrystal submitted a troop increase and has openly stated that if he doesn’t receive reinforcements in Afghanistan then the mission would be a failure. Spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Tadd Sholtis said after a meeting between US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Admiral James Stavridis and McChrystal, “At the end of that meeting General McChrystal did provide a copy of the force requirements to Admiral Mullen on the U.S. side and Admiral Stavridis on the NATO side.” Pentagon and the White House never publically published the exact number of support troops. Former President George W. Bush only spoke of 20,000 combat troops, part of his surge, without releasing the number of support troops, which was estimated at 8,000. According to The Washington Post, Defense Secretary Robert Gates requested 3,000 support troops in the region last month. But the defense officials have acknowledged that the 21,000 additional troops in March have led others to request more forces, according to CBS News.