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| Afghanistan |
| Gates Asks Europe to Send More Troops to Afghanistan |
| 2008-10-09 |
| U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday asked defense ministers from southeastern Europe to send more troops to Afghanistan, a message that he is likely to forcefully echo at a NATO summit this week. "As the situation on the ground in Iraq continues to improve, I urge you to consider sending your military forces to Afghanistan, where there is an urgent need for trainers as they expand their army," Gates said at a meeting of the South-Eastern Europe Defense Ministerial (SEDM), a 12-member organization composed of both NATO members and countries such as Macedonia that want to join the military alliance. "Your assistance will not only help Afghanistan better protect and care for its citizens, but will also reinforce your important role in ensuring peace and stability around the globe." The U.S. commander in Afghanistan has said he needs three more brigades -- 10,000 to 12,000 more troops -- to confront a resurgent Taliban and a general deterioration in the security situation. The U.S. currently has 33,000 troops in Afghanistan, with 22,000 of them part of a NATO force of 48,000 soldiers. There are more than 5,000 troops in Afghanistan from the countries attending the meeting here, including NATO members such as Italy. The meeting's host, Macedonia, has 136 troops in Afghanistan, including a medical team. The country also has a special-forces platoon and an infantry platoon in Iraq, and a U.S. diplomat said Macedonia is considering shifting those forces to Afghanistan. "The Macedonians have indicated an openness as their Iraq deployment comes to an end to look at augmenting the forces already in Afghanistan," said Philip T. Reeker, the U.S. ambassador to Macedonia. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 how about keeping the same number of euro troops, but have them actually fight? |
| Posted by: Abu do you love 2008-10-09 12:40 |
| #3 Yeah, that's just what we need, more EUropean troops. Just send us the money instead guys. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-10-09 09:34 |
| #2 ECHO, ECHo, ECho, Echo, echo..... |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-10-09 08:38 |
| #1 ION NOSI > AFGHANISTAN: A MANHUNT [Osama Bin Laden, AL-QAEDA] OR A VITAL WAR [Saving the future of an Entire Region]? ALso, YAHOO > US INTELLIGENCE WARNS IRAQ WAR COULD EXPLODE AGAIN [unresolved multi-tensions]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-10-09 03:30 |