President Obama has issued orders to escalate the war in Afghanistan by sending between thirty and thirty-five thousand additional troops. Obama will outline his war plans tonight in a prime-time address, but he has already notified military leaders of his decision. On top of previous reinforcements sent earlier this year, the troop buildup will nearly triple the US military presence in Afghanistan that President Obama inherited when he took office. Despite Obama’s plan to escalate the war, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs claimed the President has a plan to wind down the US involvement in Afghanistan.

Robert Gibbs: “I think the President will reiterate tomorrow what I’ve said a number of times, which is that this is not an open-ended — this is not an open-ended commitment; that we are there to partner with the Afghans, to train the Afghan national security forces, the army and the police, so that they can provide security for their country and wage a battle against an unpopular insurgency in that country.”