NATO says 6,000 troops urgently needed in Afghanistan(so they can hand over control in 2010-2012)

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:38 PM BST
BERLIN (Reuters) - Up to 6,000 additional troops are urgently needed in Afghanistan and a failure to deploy them will only prolong the presence of Western forces in the country, a German NATO general said on Sunday.

Egon Ramms told public radio station Deutschlandfunk that alliance members would end up paying a price later if they did not boost troop numbers now.

"We are talking about a total of 5,000, 6,000 soldiers," Ramms said. "We need these soldiers now, very soon, because we need to hold specific areas, we need to win over Afghanistan's citizens and because at some point, in 2010, 2011 or 2012 we will want to hand over responsibility to Afghan forces."


Roughly 60,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan, most of them part of the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), but security has deteriorated over the past two years.



Some 6,000 people were killed in 2007, the deadliest year since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.



Read more: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2008-06-23T155049Z_01_L22700891_RTRUKOC_0_UK-AFGHAN-NATO-TROOPS.xml

[lebkuchen]

1. Bush will get a few hapless high schooler grads to go

but not half as many as he used to.

[cliss]

2. I got news for Egon Ramms

The more NATO troops we send in, the more hated we become in Afghanistan.

More troops = more resentment.

"we need to win over Afghanistan's citizens and because at some point, in 2010"

Really?