Nato allies pledge 7,000 more troops for Afghanistan

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters/AFP) - Twenty-five Nato allies promised on Friday to send around 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan, backing President Barack Obama’s new war strategy and reinforcing efforts to defeat the Taliban. The extra commitment fell short of the 10,000 troops Pentagon officials had originally hoped for and did not account for some 4,900 Dutch and Canadian troops already due to leave the field in 2010 and 2011.
After a day of meetings to sell Obama’s new strategy, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was pleased with “significant contributions” of both combat troops and trainers, which Washington hopes will allow Afghan forces to begin taking over security responsibility by mid-2011.
“This is a crucial test for Nato which has been the greatest and most successful military alliance in history,” Hillary told a news conference, thanking Nato members for their contribution.
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said more countries could join the 25 promising to contribute new troops in the next few months.
Despite the headline figure of 7,000 extra forces announced by Rasmussen, a breakdown of the numbers provided by Nato sources showed pledges for only 5,500 troops, with 1,500 more to be confirmed later.
And of the 5,500, at least 1,500 are already in the country and will not now be withdrawn as planned, Nato sources said.
The Canadian and Dutch withdrawals, which will see some of the most battle-hardened forces leave, will also dent the non-US contribution, US officials conceded.
Rasmussen said the extra troops, which would raise the total number of foreign forces in Afghanistan to around 140,000, would help to tackle the insurgency, but would not be enough to defeat it alone. “There are no silver bullets, no magic solutions.”
“It will still take more time, more commitment and more patience to reach our shared goal,” he said.