Non-Subscriber Extract
NATO leaders' talk of 'commitment' fails to translate into ISAF troop boost
By Denise Hammick, Jim Dorschner & Radu Tudor
07 April 2008
NATO leaders reaffirmed their "shared long-term commitment" to Afghanistan during the 2-4 April summit in Bucharest, but pledges of additional troops fell far short of the numbers requested by the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF).
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters on 1 April that General Daniel McNeill, the commander of ISAF, had requested three additional brigades, comprising up to 10,000 troops, in the form of two combat brigades and a brigade of trainers.
However, only around 1,000 additional troops were offered by NATO members. Specific details such as the number of troops and types of capability on offer remain unclear.
France will provide 700 of the 1,000 troops and will deploy them to the US-led Regional Command-East (RC-E), thereby permitting the shift of a similar number of US troops to RC-South (RC-S) to serve alongside Canadian troops - a move that satisfies Canadian demands for reinforcement in the southern Kandahar region.
Other troop pledges - made by Croatia, Romania and Portugal - were much smaller. The total number of ISAF troops now in Afghanistan is currently just over 47,000.
According to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the decision to assign the French troops to RC-E was "an American idea".
Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her belief that German efforts in the north constitute a significant contribution despite the lower risks incurred by troops. She also repeatedly stated, with support from Sarkozy, that the Afghan mission was military and political in nature, necessitating a total reconstruction of the country in parallel with combat operations against the Taliban.