July 11,
2008: U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch
diplomats are leaning hard on other NATO members to provide more meaningful
support in Afghanistan. This is not the first time such complaints have been
made, but because U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch troops are doing nearly all
the fighting, while most of the 50,000 NATO troops (particularly the Germans
and French) stay in the north, where there is very little action, tempers are
getting short. What particularly irritates the four "fighting nations" are the
70-80 "special instructions" the other NATO nations have attached to the use of
their troops in Afghanistan.
This
pressure has had some effect. France is moving some of its combat troops to
eastern Afghanistan, where there has been an increase in the number of
Pakistani Taliban crossing the border. Some nations have offered to send much
needed helicopters and medical units, but even this will take time. Since the
end of the Cold War in 1991, most European nations have sharply cut their
military spending (as a percentage of GDP), and just let their armed forces
quietly fall apart. This has become embarrassingly obvious as they are now called
on to step up help out in Afghanistan. Many politicians said yes, only to find
themselves caught short by the realities of their decrepit armed forces.
The U.S.
has been trying to supply more troops, but this is unpopular in the face of
other NATO members shirking their
responsibilities. Some 2,200 American marines are leaving in November, and the
U.S. Army is reluctant to send another brigade to Afghanistan, after they just
chased al Qaeda out of Iraq. Remnants of the terrorist organizations have fled
to Pakistan, but the defeat in Iraq has hurt recruiting and fund raising
worldwide. Even NATO politicians realize that this is an opportunity to deliver
another crushing defeat to the Islamic terrorists, if only they have enough fighting
troops in Afghanistan.