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While the U.S. readies a surge of troops in Afghanistan, Sen. John McCain paid service members there a visit as he gathers a status update to report back to President-elect Barack Obama. "We're going to have additional troops and additional help," he said of the country's southern region. "And I want to emphasize again, I think it's going to get harder before it gets easier, just like the surge in Iraq was." There are currently 32,000 U.S. troops on the ground; commanders are seeking 20,000 more. Separately, the chief of the UN's mission there warned about the country being in jeopardy.