Word: nato
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...what was the reaction of the foreign press, in particular some of our NATO allies? Afghanistan is ultimately a very backward country, and as long as it doesn’t become a big base for al Qaeda, it has no real bearing on Europeans’ interests. It is more difficult for an American to speak that truth. We inflate the danger due to the shock of 9/11. We also started the war, so we naturally have a greater stake in seeing it through. Europeans clearly don’t feel that. They help us, but there?...
...than the 21,000 troops he sent last March, whose presence didn't seem to improve the situation on the ground at all. "Look, the fact that there were increased casualties this year I think is to be expected from increased engagement by our forces." True enough, but the NATO coalition lost ground to the Taliban this year, by Obama's own admission. And the President could only come up with speed of deployment and a clearer sense of mission as strategic game changers. Later, when I asked him about what changes he had ordered for the training...
...January in London, before announcing more resources. "The timeline is diminishing. European support will last for a year, maybe two," says Greg Austin, vice president of program development and rapid response at the EastWest Institute. "But in the long term, it is not sustainable for the U.S. and its NATO allies to bear the burden. There has to be a more hard-nosed diplomacy to mobilize neighboring countries. Countries like India and Pakistan will be able to better provide police training in Afghanistan than Denmark." (See pictures of Afghanistan's dangerous Korengal Valley...
...take the 18-month timeline as a signal that they should continue to hedge their bets and support the Afghan Taliban in the tribal areas along the border in order to foil a much feared expansion of Indian influence on their northwestern flank. At the moment U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan believe they can continue the battle despite Pakistan's tolerance of the Afghan Taliban leadership within its borders. Should Pakistani policy move toward active aid and support, however, the task of defeating the Afghan insurgency would become impossibly difficult. (See Europe's response to the call for more...
...government in Islamabad greeted Obama's speech with "cautious optimism." But, warned presidential spokesman Farahnaz Ispahani, if the U.S. and NATO fail to eliminate militancy within Afghanistan "speedily and in consultation with Pakistan, there is a fear of a spillover effect." The same concern colors the thinking of the military establishment, which will be making the decisions that matter on the Pakistani side. "The army is caught in a conundrum," says Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. "It doesn't want the U.S. to leave in a precipitous manner, but it also concerned that...