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US Defense Secretary seeks more German troops for Afghanistan
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has sent an "unusually stern" letter to his German counterpart asking Berlin to send more troops to southern Afghanistan, a German newspaper reported Thursday. According to Suddeutsche Zeitung [Bless you!], the undated letter was sent a week and half ago directly to Franz Josef Jung, demanding more combat troops, helicopters and parachutists. Jung in turn wasted no time in responding with a similarly "direct and stern" letter, the paper said, without quoting the letters directly, ahead of full publication on Friday. NATO troop deployments have become an increasingly sore point of contention between the two countries. Gates' letter demanded 3,200 German troops to replace US soldiers later this year, the paper said. NATO defence ministers meet in Vilnius next week. There are currently 42,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, but the organisation wants a further 7,500 reinforcements to join combat missions in the south. Germany currently has 3,200 troops deployed in Afghanistan, around the capital Kabul and in the relatively calm north.
Posted by: gorb 2008-02-01 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=222901 |