NBC News and news services

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed off on an increase in U.S. forces for the flagging war in Afghanistan.

"To meet urgent security needs, I approved a request from (Defense) Secretary Gates to deploy a Marine Expeditionary Brigade later this spring and an Army Stryker Brigade and the enabling forces necessary to support them later this summer," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

About 8,000 Marines are expected to go in first, followed by about 9,000 Army troops. Some 34,000 U.S. troops are already in Afghanistan.

"There is no more solemn duty as president than the decision to deploy our armed forces into harm's way," Obama added. "I do it today mindful that the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention and swift action. The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, and al Qaeda supports the insurgency and threatens America from its safe-haven along the Pakistani border."

Of the 17,000 troops authorized, deployment orders have been issued for 12,000 and some of those are being reassigned from roles in Iraq. Where the remaining 5,000 troops will come from will be determined later.

The new troops could be a down payment on an even larger influx of U.S. forces that has been widely expected this year, and it will get forces in place in time for the increase in fighting that usually comes with warmer weather and ahead of national midyear elections.

Earlier Tuesday, Obama said the situation in Afghanistan "actually appears to be deteriorating at this point."

"I'm absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban and the spread of extremism in the region solely through military means," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview ahead of his trip to Ottawa on Thursday. "We're going to have to use diplomacy, we're going to have to use development."

The Afghan directive is the first time the new commander in chief has sent significant numbers of new forces into battle. Obama campaigned on a new strategy for the Afghanistan war, but he has taken his time to approve the new forces.

Identifying and narrowing the goals in Afghanistan is part of a broad U.S. government reassessment of the war effort that is under way.

U.S. commanders have said they could send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan this year, nearly doubling the American contingent. Gates has said two brigades could be ready to go there by spring and a third by summer.

__________________

Please don't PM me with fta related questions, ask them in open forums so others can benefit from them too.