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Will the other NATO countries step up support in Afghanistan?

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2009-01-28 15:12

Picka
Colorado Springs, CO

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From this BBC article: NATO: Afghanistan could spoil the Obama Party.

In a speech in Brussels on January 26th], NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said bluntly: "I cannot accept that the US has to do all the heavy lifting... Europe too has to step up with more forces and when that is not forthcoming, more on the civilian side."

The NATO chief said: "If the Europeans expect that the United States will close Guantanamo, sign up to climate change treaties, accept EU leadership on key issues, but provide nothing more in return, for example in Afghanistan, than encouragement, they should think again. It simply won't work like that."
The Secretary General's points should be heeded. While one can understand NATO's lack of support for the Iraq War, the other NATO countries will have to provide more support for an expanded military and construction effort in Afghanistan. This will indeed test how much "capital" Obama has with our NATO allies.

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