Obama's Troop Surge Begins: President OKs 17,000 Additional Troops for Afghanistan

Today, President Obama approved a request by Defense Secretary Robert Gates for the deployment of more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. The president authorized the deployment of 17,000 additional troops. According to MSNBC, military commanders hope that President Obama will deploy a total of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan by the summer.