Obama's speech on Afghanistan

President Obama has announced his decision to send another 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan to join the fight against the Taliban.

The reinforcements will be deployed over a period of six months, taking the US force there to more than 100,000.

Mr Obama, speaking from West Point Military Academy in New York to an audience of cadets, also said soldiers would begin to return after 18 months.

Many of the new deployments will be from the US Marines. The BBC's Jonathan Beale has been given rare access to follow raw recruits at Parris Island, South Carolina. They could soon be sent into battle.

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US Army wives, Dianne Davis and Rebekah Sanderlin have been talking to the World Today's Tom Hagler about the agonising wait for their loved ones to return home from deployment.

Rebekah writes a blog called Operation Marriage, where she gives her perspective as the wife of a soldier. She lives next to a large military base and has two children.

There are differences of opinion on the new Obama policy within the ranks of his own party. Democrat Dennis Kucinich is a well known opponent of the Afghan war.

In the speech, the United Nations were called upon to work closely with the US to help build up the civilian infrastructure of Afghanistan.

How has President Obama's speech been received in Afghanistan?

First broadcast 2 December 2009