Agence France-Presse,
NOORDWIJK, Netherlands: NATO defence ministers began talks Wednesday focused on drumming up reinforcements for Afghanistan, with the United States expected to lead calls for more troops and equipment.
“Our top priority today is our operation in Afghanistan,” Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told ministers from the 26 NATO countries, at the start of a two-day informal meeting in the Dutch coastal town of Noordwijk.
“The most important thing that we, as NATO, but also the international community can do is to strengthen Afghan capacity so that Afghanistan can stand on its own feet,” he said.
NATO leads the 37-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which is trying to spread the influence of President Hamid Karzai's weak central government across the country and encourage rebuilding.
But ISAF troops have faced stiff resistance, notably in the south and east of the strife-torn country, from Taliban-led insurgents, and civilian and military casualties have begun to wear away at public support for the mission.
A survey in Canada in August showed that solid majorities of people in Britain, France, Germany and Italy thought the ISAF mission was a failure, while almost one in two Canadians agreed.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to buttonhole his European NATO counterparts in closed-door talks — amid US shortfalls in Iraq and Afghanistan — as ISAF commanders seek more combat troops and particularly helicopters.
US, British, Canadian and Dutch troops are carrying the lion's share of the fighting in the most dangerous parts of the country, and want some of their more reluctant allies to step up.
“One thing is certain, there is no such thing as a free ride to peace and security,” said Dutch Defence Minister Eimert Van Middelkoop, whose country has seen 10 soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
“It is not about what we are willing to say for a safer and more just world, it ultimately depends on what we are willing to do. Fair risk and burden sharing will remain the leading principle for this alliance,” he said.
The Netherlands is expected to renew in coming weeks the mandate of some 1,500 Dutch troops deployed in the southern province of Oruzgan but surveys suggest the majority of Dutch people are against an extension.
Germany has often come under the spotlight for resisting moves, which would need parliamentary approval anyway, to redeploy away from the relatively stable north of the country.
But German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung underlined that reconstruction work was just as important as fighting insurgents, and suggested that Berlin's stance is unlikely to change.
“There are 3,200 soldiers in northern Afghanistan and in the south there are 30,000 soldiers. It would be a great error if Germany didn't assume its responsibilities in Afghanistan,” he told reporters.
“The north must remain our prime focus.”
Before the meeting began, Scheffer said he would float the idea of rotating forces into the more dangerous parts of Afghanistan.
“If you look at the necessity for political, military and financial solidarity in Afghanistan, I do think that at a certain stage I would like to see more rotation in Afghanistan,” he said.
“I'll not table a rotation plan. I'll mention it and I hope that me mentioning it and possibly ministers discussing this will have some impact,” he said, adding that the plan is meant for the long-term future.
A NATO official explained that a rotation system, unlikely to be tried for a year even if agreed upon, would allow countries to better plan their future troop movements and encourage allies to stay in Afghanistan longer.
