Pentagon Fears Spike In Afghan Casualties

The Sunday Telegraph reports:

President Barack Obama's decision to order a bigger and speedier reduction in troop numbers than advised by his top military commanders will increase American casualties during the pull-out, Pentagon planners fear.

The fighting will be intense as they leave and the planners expect the casualty rate will increase even as troop numbers are being reduced," a senior US defence department adviser told The Sunday Telegraph.

"That scares the cr-p out of people at the Pentagon." Planners at the Joint Chiefs of Staff also believe that the announcement last week that a third of the 100,000 US personnel will be brought home by next autumn will lead to accelerated withdrawals by Nato allies – a trend that would in turn increase public pressure in the US for even more US forces to leave.