Britain has announced it’s preparing to send more troops to Afghanistan and suggested the US is poised to do the same. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would deploy an additional 500 soldiers if several conditions were met, including additional troop commitments from other NATO forces. Brown indicated the troop boost is linked to an expected US troop increase, saying, “I believe the decision we are announcing is consistent with what the Americans will decide.” Addressing the British parliament, Brown said the decision had been made in close consultation with the United States.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown: “But I do want — I do want to stress that the decisions that we are announcing today have been made after the fullest possible consultation with our American allies, with the Secretary-General of NATO, and with our own military commanders, commanders on the ground, the chief of the defense staff and the chief of the general staff, and I’ve regularly met them over the last few weeks to deal with these issues.”

Britain has the second-largest foreign occupation force in Afghanistan with around 9,000 troops.