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Pentagon: McChrystal to Submit Troop Request This Week


A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense says the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan will submit his formal troop request this week.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters Wednesday that Army General Stanley McChrystal will deliver the request to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Morrell said it would be premature for officials to consider the troop request before they have completed the review of progress U.S. President Barack Obama announced in March.

Morrell acknowledged that if Mr. Obama decides to adjust the strategy in Afghanistan, there may be changes to the troop request.

General McChrystal is warning that the mission "will likely result in failure" if more troops are not sent within the next year.


The Washington Post newspaper published portions of a 66-page unclassified version of General McChrystal's Afghan assessment Monday. The general wrote that inadequate resources will risk a longer, more costly conflict that will probably result in defeat.

But he stressed that success in Afghanistan is still achievable if military forces can reverse insurgent momentum.

President Obama has increased the U.S. troop presence by more than 21,000 to about 68,000.

There has been a sharp increase in U.S. casualties in recent months. More than 360 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year.

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