Clinton proposes international conference on Afghanistan- Appeals for troops . . .

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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed on Thursday a high-level international conference on Afghanistan to be sponsored by the United Nations and attended by a wide range of countries including Pakistan and NATO allies.

Clinton presented the proposal at a NATO foreign ministers meeting where she said the session could be held March 31 and led by the U.N.'s special representative for Afghanistan, Kai Eide of Norway, who was appointed to improve coordination of international civilian assistance to Kabul.

She said discussions were under way with the U.N. on possibly having U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon open the conference.

"We hope that this meeting could provide an opportunity to reach a common set of principles, perhaps embodied in a chairman's statement, on a common way forward," she said, according to a prepared text released by her staff.

Clinton said that Afghanistan and Pakistan should attend the conference, along with NATO allies and those countries that have troops in Afghanistan. Without citing others by name, Clinton also proposed having in attendance "key regional and strategic countries," which appeared to mean Russia, India and possibly others, plus "major financial contributors and relevant international organizations."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jqsRD-3aqZVBlkVGZdMz5Sl7S95wD96NU74G0



BRUSSELS (Reuters) -

Clinton repeated at the NATO meeting in Brussels a U.S. appeal for NATO members to provide more troops to fight al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan, adding to the additional 17,000 U.S. forces that Washington offered last month.

"We must add resources to address the serious situation on the ground right now," Clinton said.

"In addition, there needed to be an increase in development aid and more help to train and build the Afghan army and police."

"We must recognize that one tiny, remote corner of the world -- the borders of Pakistan -- is the nerve center for extremists who planned 9/11; the bombings in Madrid and London, the assassination of (former Pakistani Prime Minister) Benazir Bhutto and the recent carnage in Mumbai," she said.

read: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5243US20090305


It doesn't sound appealing with the fighting she's promising in Afghanistan. These nations should know American occupations by now. Bloody and costly. Canada still hasn't changed their mind about leaving Afghanistan on 2010. They've lost a lot of troops there already - 2 killed just yesterday, I believe.

Tough sell.

[Marrah_G]

1. I'd like to see some troops from moderate muslim countries step up in Afghanistan

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2. I think there are about 70,000 now from about 42 nations.

I don't think the fighting will ever sort out the way we want it as long as we're the ones up front in that, so I would also like to see more regional help. I'm just not sure that more soldiers on top of the ones there is the answer right now, especially since it sounds like the administration is prepared to continue, and even ramp up, the aggressive talk of militants and such.

I am intrigued by the adoption of the terms 'extremist' and 'extremism', apparently to replace 'terrorist' and 'terrorism'. The response to the former could be either political or military, while the latter demands a solely military response.