Category: NATO

British: Strategy and Alliance

Top British Diplomat Blasts ‘War On Terror’, (Washington Times)…Unattributed
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband wants a rethink of the strategy against terrorism, calling the notion of a war on terrorism “misleading and mistaken.”

Britain To Attack Its Afghan War Allies, (Financial Times)…James Blitz, 14 Jan 09. John Hutton, Britain’s defence secretary, will on Thursday launch an attack on the commitment of the UK’s European Union allies to the war in Afghanistan, warning that Europe can no longer continue “freeloading” on the back of US military security.

Afghanistan: NATO Back-up

Give US Afghan Backup: NATO, New York Post, December 22, 2008, By Reuters

BRUSSELS – Fellow NATO members must follow the United States in committing additional forces to Afghanistan, the alliance said yesterday.

Washington plans to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to the area by the beginning of next summer to combat a growing Taliban insurgency, said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

A NATO diplomat said the alliance wanted to avoid a situation in which two or three of the 26 allies did almost all the dangerous work.

The United States already has some 31,000 troops in the war-ravaged country.

Afghanistan: NATO Challenges

U.S. To Supply Bulk Of Additional NATO Afghan Troops, (Bloomberg.com)…James G. Neuger, Bloomberg News, Dec 18, 2008.

The U.S. will supply the bulk of additional NATO troops for the war in Afghanistan, with only smaller-scale reinforcements coming from European allies, the alliance’s supreme military commander said.

American concerns that some European allies aren’t pulling their weight erupted last year when Defense Secretary Robert Gates — set to keep his job in Obama’s Cabinet — warned that NATO risked devolving into a “two-tiered alliance.”

American concerns that some European allies aren’t pulling their weight erupted last year when Defense Secretary Robert Gates — set to keep his job in Obama’s Cabinet — warned that NATO risked devolving into a “two-tiered alliance.”