World View: Obama Orders 1,000 More Troops for Afghanistan

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Britain will open a new military base in Bahrain
• Obama orders 1000 more troops for Afghanistan

Britain will open a new military base in Bahrain

The base will be an expansion of Bahrain’s Mina Salman port, with limited facilities that Britain has been using since 1971

Britain and Bahrain announced a deal for Britain to open a newmilitary base in Bahrain. The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet is also basedin Bahrain, and Britain has been sharing some of its facilities. Thisnew agreement will permit Britain to substantially expand its presencein the Mideast. Britain closed all its major bases east of the Suezcanal following major defense spending cuts in 1971, so this agreementmarks the first permanent base in the Mideast since then. Accordingto Britain’s defense secretary:

This new base is a permanent expansion of the RoyalNavy’s footprint and will enable Britain to send more and largerships to reinforce stability in the Gulf.

Immediate plans include using the new facilities in the fightagainst ISIS. The US has been escalating its military presence inIraq and Afghanistan, and it appears that Britain is doing so as well.

Guardian (London) and AFP

Obama orders 1000 more troops for Afghanistan

Outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced on Saturdaythat the administration is increasing by 1,000 the number of soldiersthat the US will keep in Afghanistan next year. Hagel noted thatthere has been a particularly violent surge of Taliban attacks inKabul recently. “The recent wave of Taliban attacks has made it clearthat the international community must not waver in its support for astable, secure and prosperous Afghanistan,” he said.

President Obama had promised to have all US troops out of Iraq andAfghanistan by the end of 2014. He brought in anti-war politicianHagel as Secretary of Defense in order to complete the withdrawal, butcircumstances, especially the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS orISIS or ISIL), have forced him to order American troops to re-enterIraq, and then to continually increase the US presence. (“8-Nov-14 World View — Obama sharply escalates U.S. involvement in Iraq war”) It now appears thatincreased Taliban violence is beginning to force a similar escalationin Afghanistan. Reuters and CNN

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Bahrain, Britain, Mina Salman port,Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL,US Navy Fifth Fleet, Afghanistan, Chuck Hagel
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail