U.S. President Barack Obama plans a significant increase in the size of the Afghan police force, according to U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke. Holbrooke said the Obama administration's initial plan to help boost Afghan police numbers from 78,000 to 82,000 over the next three to four years was now regarded as inadequate. "Everyone we talked to without exception -- Afghans, insurgency experts, the government, American military -- agreed that was not sufficient," he said. "So we are looking in conjunction with our allies and friends in the Afghan government at a very significant increase," he told a security conference in Brussels. Holbrooke said a "vast task" lay ahead to improve the international efforts in Afghanistan.
