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"The reluctance of Nato members to meet their commitments is partly due to the demands made on major nations for international operations elsewhere and wariness about getting sucked in to an open-ended conflict."

Yup...and the other part is due to national cowardice.

Then what the heck good is NATO?

(sigh) Guess it's gonna take a couple more 9/11s' before anyone in Europe gets serious.

A few hundred on trains - ah - just the price of doing business.

Watch the Democrats blame this on the Republicans, saying its their fault the Taliban's "overrunning" Afghanistan.

From the CBC:

Soldiers from a Quebec-based regiment will be heading to Afghanistan earlier than anticipated, CBC News has learned.

The Van Doos, the Royal 22nd Regiment based in Valcartier, Que., have been preparing to send 2,000 troops to Kandahar next summer.

CBC has learned about 120 will now be deployed by the end of September to provide protection for civilian and military reconstruction efforts.

"It's part of our job to be deployed when we're asked to," said Sgt. Mario Lateigne.

The Van Doos have served in Afghanistan, but this is the first time they'll be deployed in the dangerous southern territory, the site of heavy fighting with Taliban fighters.

The decision could have political consequences, with Quebec consistently polling as the province with the lowest support for Canada's military presence in Afghanistan.

Jean-Marc Léger of Léger Marketing said one of the reasons is that many in Quebec see Prime Minister Stephen Harper as too often following the lead of U.S. President George W. Bush.

"They don't appreciate that Stephen Harper sent people," he added. "But also if someone in their French community dies, the sentiment will be really worse.

"He will lose votes, he will lose ground in Quebec."

In all, 32 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died since the mission to Afghanistan began in 2002, with many of the deaths occurring in the last two months.

There are more than 2,000 Canadian troops in Afghanistan, a mission in which thousands of soldiers have participated since it began in 2002.

On Tuesday, NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told BBC News "some nations are carrying more of the burden than others."

He said more member countries need to provide troops to stand alongside Canadian, British and Dutch troops fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.