Afghanistan was pretty quiet until about 2006 or 2007, when we had perhaps 25,000 troops there, with a single combat brigade there since we overthrew the Taliban. I think we added a second brigade in that period.
Today, we have 4 Army brigade combat teams and 1 Marine Expeditionary Brigade with 68,000 US troops scheduled to be in the country by the end of the year. Resources have been freed up by our victory in Iraq to divert troops to Afghanistan.
But the critics of the Iraq War say 5 brigades and 68,000 troops are enough:
The Senate Armed Services chairman Friday added to mounting pressure on the White House to avoid escalating the war in Afghanistan by calling for faster training of Afghan security forces instead of sending more U.S. troops into combat.
So, 2 combat brigades and 25,000 US troops was evidence of failing to provide the resources to win in Afghanistan. And 68,000 US troops and 5 brigades is evidence of enough resources.
So the sum total of our distraction by Iraq is now defined as 43,000 troops (of all services) and 4 ground combat brigades, out of 2.5 million active and reserve personnel and 54 active component brigades/regimental combat teams (and 31 reserve brigades/regiments).
That's a distraction of under 2% of our total troop strength and under 5% of our total brigades available today.
I've always wondered about how much of what we committed to Iraq should have been sent to Afghanistan to demonstrate that Iraq was not a distraction from winning in Afghanistan.
Now we know, I guess.
