EUROPEAN MEMBERS of Nato have signed up to follow the US into a “new phase” of the war in Afghanistan, pledging to support an escalation of the military campaign by President Barack Obama.
Even as Nato presented a united front, however, France and Germany continued to rule out sending further troops at least until after a summit on the conflict in London next month.
Both countries came under US pressure yesterday to intensify their deployments as Nato foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss their response to Mr Obama’s new strategy.
“The need for additional forces is urgent, but their presence will not be indefinite,” US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said at the meeting.
Mr Obama’s move to send an additional 30,000 US troops into the battle received a boost with the decision of 25 Nato allies to increase their planned deployment by a total of 7,000 next year “with the possibility of more contributions to come”.
This will bring the total number of foreign troops in Afghanistan to 140,000, although Mrs Clinton reiterated the target of starting to hand over security powers to the local authorities in mid-2011.
“At that time, we will begin to transfer authority and responsibility to Afghan security forces, removing combat forces from Afghanistan over time with the assurance that Afghanistan’s future, and ours, is secure,” she said.
With both France and Germany seeking fresh reassurances that the Afghan government will weed out corruption, Nato put the drive to improve governance and strengthen the rule of law to the fore of its agenda.
“They encouraged the new Afghan government to deliver rapid and tangible results in this respect,” said a statement from the foreign ministers.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato’s general secretary, said the alliance members achieved “solidarity” over the mission.
“In sum, this meeting has launched a new phase in this mission. No one should expect instant results, but with the right approach and the right resources we will succeed – and we have both.” Nato forces will try to persuade “low-level” fighters to lay down their arms and reintegrate into Afghan society.
Although 1,500 of the new non-US deployments are to be confirmed later, Mr Rasmussen said alliance members were backing up words with deeds.
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said it didn’t make sense to reduce the debate about the success of the campaign to the number of troops involved.