Rift In NATO Over Afghanistan Forces

(CBS/AP)  Germany's defense minister defended his army's efforts in the north of Afghanistan on Friday, rejecting a written plea from his U.S. counterpart to send troops for NATO-led forces in the volatile south.

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung insisted that German troops will remain in the relatively calm north, a response to a letter from U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to all NATO partners reportedly urging them to send more forces to join the fight against Taliban and other militants in southern Afghanistan.

"I have a clear mandate from the German parliament," Jung told reporters. "It consists of 3,500 soldiers serving along the northern border and only helping out in the south for a limited period of time, as needed."

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington the letter to Germany was "consistent with what Secretary Gates has spoken about in recent weeks, which is this very strong desire to engage our allies with providing the forces that we need to move ahead in Afghanistan."

The U.K. newspaper Independent reports that leaked comments from an unnamed defense ministry source described the letter from Gates as "impertinent." One official accused the Defense Secretary of trying to inflict "psychological torture" on Germany.

According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the issue was "not up for discussion," in the words of her spokesperson.

The refusal of Germany, along with France, Turkey and Italy, to send significant number of troops to the southern front lines has opened a rift within NATO. Troops from Canada, Britain, the Netherlands and the United States have borne the brunt of a resurgence of Taliban violence in the region, with support from Denmark, Romania, Estonia and non-NATO nation Australia.

Gates has been trying to persuade NATO allies to contribute more troops and equipment to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, without much success.

"Clearly, the challenge continues to be to provide the forces that NATO has committed to, and that's obviously up to the member nations," Mullen said.

Mullen said the U.S. has "made the case that we need more forces. We've committed American forces ourselves. ... It isn't just rhetoric from our point of view. And we need that kind of assistance from those other countries, including Germany."

He said talks on the matter between Washington and Berlin would continue.

"It's going to be up to the individual states to make decisions about allocation of resources," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington. "I won't make a secret of the fact that we are encouraging all of our NATO allies to do everything they can in terms of contributing resources."

But Germany has shown little inclination to reallocate troops.

"If friends need help, then we will respond with support for a limited time - as stipulated in our mandate," Jung said. "But I think that our emphasis needs to remain in the north."

According to Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, the letter from Gates is 1½ pages long and specifically asks for helicopter units, infantry and paratroopers that could join the fight against Taliban militants in the south.

The issue is expected to feature prominently in discussions at an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania, next month.

[j-whitman]

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan?

It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration''s claims wanting. "I''m not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080201/us_time/istheusfailinginafghanistan;_ylt=AvoRUtKThB_bKioyKDhNnsGs0NUE

[j-whitman]

NATO''s Not Winning in Afghanistan, Report Says

"Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan," said the report by the Atlantic Council of the United States, chaired by retired Gen. James L. Jones, who until the summer of 2006 served as the supreme allied commander of NATO.

"Afghanistan remains a failing state. It could become a failed state,"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/30/AR2008013004314.html

[prof_s]

Afghanistan is America''s war, yet we ignored it and now expect our allies to fight our war for us? We have more policeman on Manhattan Island than we have soldiers in Afghanistan. The truth of the situation is obvious. Also, let us not forget Germany, in addition to having sent MP soldiers to U.S. military installations to replace American soldiers sent to Iraq, is also deploying troops on humanitarian missions in Africa where the United States has no presence. No oil.

[cdfoxtrot]

The Yanks wouldn''t need help in the south of Afghanistan if the moron-in-chief hadn''t sent 140,000+ troops to Iraq to fight the illegal war.

[ezol-2009]

People are missing the truth here.

The commitments are based on two factors, political will at home and military cabability. The US has alot more political will to get involved with wars. The US also has alot more military hardware to do it with.

German reluctance to engage in overseas conflict is not a terrible thing, they are probably more scared of themselves becoming militarised than fighting an external enemy.

[terrorislam6]

it is retarded raducal fascist nazi terrorislamic jihadist muslim slavers and murderers stupid,,,

non muslims of the world unite,,, fight against the tyranny of the fascist nazi terrorslam imperialist empire of the darkside,,,

I was a fanatic...I know their thinking, says former radical Islamist
By blaming the Government for our actions, those who pushed this "Blair''''s bombs" line did our propaganda work for us.
More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=465570&in_page_id=1770

Bless the Beasts and Children
Fascist nazi terrorslam kills every man woman and child in the village again%u2026 typical mo for terrorslam%u2026
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/bless-the-beasts-and-children.htm

Our Prophet commanded us to fight the kaafirs when we are able and to attack them in their homelands and to give them three choices before we enter their lands: either they become Muslim and be like us, sharing our rights and duties; or they pay the jizyah (poll tax) and feel themselves subdued; or they fight, in which case their wealth, women, children and homes become permissible as booty for the Muslims.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=13759&ln=eng&txt=before%20islam%20arabia%20pagan

the truth about fascist nazi terrorislam...
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/

[barbjc1]

Good for those countries, maybe Congress will wake up that nobody wants to play wargames anymore. Maybe the rest of the world is tired of their children dying based on deceit and lies from Bush/Cheney.

[ajaxtheleast]

Told something that he didn''t know, Cris now

knows the possibility that a "President McCain"

could appoint Joe Leiberbentdick Arnold as

his "Sec. of State.

The good side: Trash on your door step for

two years starts to smell so bad that to

have it removed for a real democrat to open

the door and walk all the way into the house,

this would be a small price to pay.

[walt1944-2009]

The Great Emperor Bush II is perplexed that his NATO allies are refusing to follow what HIS commanders want their allies to do in Afghanistan.

The Great Emperor wants NATO to supply more "cannon fodder" to continue his wars on "terrrrrror" since the military of the US(SA) has been drained. After all, the Great Emperor reasons, who started this war anyway? Wasn''t it he who decided to start the "war on terrrrrrror" and fight the "terrrrrrrorists" there rather then here?

Unfortunately, the Great Emperor has a problem realizing that he is not emperor of the European countries as well; a problem which, if the Europeans aren''t careful, the emperor might address by adding those countries opposing his will to his "TO INVADE" list!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!

[beehive21-2009]

Mr Mcvet,pls state your stuff and move on, you need not attack anyone,no point in it, we all have something to say ,however we need not personally attack anyone, State your BS and move on.We''ve been kicking butt since the beginning and shall continue ,check out American History,Manifest Destiny etc.