Ottawa — Britain's Foreign Office minister says reluctant NATO allies need to “get real” about the threat posed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. Kim Howells told a diplomatic audience at Canada's Foreign Affairs building in Ottawa that Britons are just as frustrated as Canadians about bearing the brunt of heavy fighting in the country's south.German, Italian, French and Spanish forces patrol relatively quiet sectors and have refused to allow their troops to engage in combat. At the NATO summit two weeks ago, those countries agreed to loosen restrictions and promised to help Canadian, British, Dutch and American forces battling the Taliban, but only in emergencies.
Mr. Howells says it seems that there are two classes of NATO troops — those who are allowed to die in order to protect freedom and other soldiers who are not allowed to do so. Without naming the countries, Mr. Howells says some of the allies are kidding themselves if they believe that they shouldn't get involved just because they haven't been targeted for a major terrorist attack.
So the unnamed reporter names the names. Lol.