NATO gets no offers of extra Afghanistan troops

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/ts_nm/afghan_nato_dc;_ylt=Ajd8lj6uHhNHLlQYBq_C8_6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-


NATO gets no offers of extra Afghanistan troops

Wed Sep 13, 10:36 AM ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -NATO members failed to offer any extra troops for a tough peacekeeping mission in southern Afghanistan at talks on Wednesday and it could be weeks before reinforcements are committed, an alliance spokesman said.

"No formal offers were made at the table," spokesman James Appathurai told a regular news briefing.

However, he said there were "positive indications" that some allies might consider providing additional forces.

It could take until a meeting of NATO defense ministers on September 28-29 in Slovenia to finalize offers for up to 2,500 extra troops requested urgently by NATO commanders to help cope with daily clashes with Taliban insurgents, Appathurai added.

[WhiteTara]

1. NATO fails to respond to commanders' call for reinforcements

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/14/content_5089822.htm

looks they are trying to have a war and no one is coming.


BEIJING, Sept. 14(Xinhuanet) -- NATO members have failed to respond to a call from military commanders for reinforcements to try to quell the Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan, an alliance spokesman said.

"No formal offers were made at the table," spokesman James Appathurai told reporters Wednesday in Brussels, where the 26-nation group was meeting.

NATO's top operational commander, U.S. General James Jones, appealed for 2,000 to 2,500 more troops last week, saying the force was about 15 percent short of full strength.

snip

But on Wednesday, military commanders said their efforts to muster reinforcements for the 20,000-strong NATO force and greater air cover were likely to fail.

European allies, with thousands of troops already committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia, Congo and Lebanon are reluctant to send more to Kandahar and Helmand, where recent fighting has killed 30 NATO troops and hundreds of militants.

[CHIMO]

2. NATO Allies Reluctant to Send More Troops to Afghanistan

Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey, however are not expected to offer additional support.

On Tuesday, the German Defense Ministry said it would not send troops to the south, nothing that the current deployment of 2,900 soldiers in northern Afghanistan already put it close to a limit of 3,000 set by parliament.

Spain, France and Italy already have contigents in western Afghanistan and in the capital Kabul. They say they are stretched after recent troop commitments in Lebanon. Turkey has also ruled out sending any reinforcements.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the BBC News that some member countries are carrying more of their fair share of the burden in Afghanistan than others, and called on the 26-nation alliance to show more solidarity.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2172285,00.html

German Cabinet Gives Green Light to Lebanon Mission

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday her cabinet had approved sending frigates and fast patrol boats with up to 2,400 navy troops to secure Lebanon's coast as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force for the country. Parliament's likely approval of the mission to the Middle East would be of historic significance for the country.

"This is a mission unlike any other ... for me it has an historic dimension," said Merkel in reference to what will be the first German military deployment in the Middle East since the end of World War II.

Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Germany would lead the marine component of the UN force and has been given a "a robust but not agressive mandate" to patrol Lebanon's coast.

"We will control the whole of Lebanon's waters, within 50 nautical miles of the coast. We will have the right to use force against vessels that show resistance," he said.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2172454,00.html

One might assume that a holy alliance is beginning.