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Taliban Exposes Cracks In NATO
The Guardian (UK) ^ | 9-12-2006 | Simon Tisdall

Posted on 09/12/2006 3:13:09 PM PDT by blam

Taliban exposes cracks in Nato

Simon Tisdall
Tuesday September 12, 2006
The Guardian (UK)

Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's public plea today for up to 2,500 additional soldiers to fight alongside British, Canadian and Dutch forces in southern Afghanistan has highlighted deep internal strains in the alliance caused by unexpectedly fierce Taliban resistance in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. The Nato secretary-general's appeal followed an unsuccessful attempt to drum up more support from leading members such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain in Warsaw at the weekend. A formal force generation conference will be held today. "We are working on getting nations to do what they promised," Mr De Hoop Scheffer said. "I am calling for alliance solidarity because some nations are carrying more of the burden than others."

But promises notwithstanding, Nato might struggle to find the extra soldiers, said Lord Garden, former assistant chief of the defence staff. "They've got real problems. You have to remember how reluctant many members were to send troops south in the first place. And the agreement was for stabilisation and reconstruction, not counter-insurgency."

He added: "This is supposed to be the first stage of a two-stage operation. The plan is for Nato to take over from the Americans in the east next year. That is potentially even more problematic. So it's difficult to see who will provide the extra troops. They do seem to have been caught a bit short. They need to have a rethink about setting more modest objectives."

Countries accused of letting the side down dispute the charge. "France is already doing an awful lot in Afghanistan," a spokesman said. "We have over 1,000 troops there, including special forces attached to the [US-led] Operation Enduring Freedom. But now we are sending 2,000 soldiers to Lebanon.

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cracks; exposes; nato; taliban
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1 posted on 09/12/2006 3:13:10 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

a rather unfortunate title


2 posted on 09/12/2006 3:15:33 PM PDT by Lekker 1 (("...the world will be...eleven degrees colder by the year 2000" -- K. Watt, Earth Day, 1970)
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To: blam

In the last week or so,the BBC has run several stories that strongly suggest that NATO is on the brink of defeat in Afghanistan.


3 posted on 09/12/2006 3:15:48 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative ("An empty limousine pulled up and Hillary Clinton got out")
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To: blam
Ah... Europe, Home to almost a billion people and they can't find 2500 troops to send to Afghanistan.

If this was the cold war, we would all be speaking Russian and drinking vodka while we were waiting in line for toilet paper.
4 posted on 09/12/2006 3:17:22 PM PDT by lmr (The answers to life don't involve complex solutions.)
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To: blam

Good Fkn Grief. The left wing is oblivious to us wiping out hundreds and hundreds of these scum.


5 posted on 09/12/2006 3:20:19 PM PDT by pissant
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To: blam
So I see the other NATO countries were our best buddies as long as THEY needed US.

Now it seems to be a case of "Wait a minute, we didn't think WE would have to contribute blood and treasure! We thought it'd, you know, go on like before, with the US protecting us from the Soviets. We really need to look at this NATO thing..."

Just today I am starting to think we should have only trade partners. If ANYONE calls for our help, we should tell them "Naw, we don't want to be the policemen of the world, and you don't want us to be, either."

The Islamofascists will then take over the planet, other than the US and Canada (we like the lumber and oil), and we will pour all our foreign aid money into Star Wars, and we'll be safe and secure while the rest of the world lives in the slavery it so obviously wishes for.

Yes, I'm in a bad mood.

6 posted on 09/12/2006 3:20:34 PM PDT by Darkwolf377
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To: Darkwolf377

We are simply CRUSHING the taliban there.


7 posted on 09/12/2006 3:22:46 PM PDT by pissant
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To: blam

The Guardian! Always chock full of positive stories about Western efforts!


8 posted on 09/12/2006 3:22:51 PM PDT by zarf
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To: blam
We've heard this for 5 years now!

The Taliban is "coming back", "gaining strength", "making a comeback", "rearming", "still in charge", ZZZZzzzzzz

It's tediously untrue.

9 posted on 09/12/2006 3:27:32 PM PDT by ChadGore (VISUALIZE 62,041,268 Bush fans. We Vote.)
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To: blam

"Countries accused of letting the side down dispute the charge. "France is already doing an awful lot in Afghanistan," a spokesman said. "We have over 1,000 troops there"

I had no idea how overextended the French are....../sarcasam


10 posted on 09/12/2006 3:27:42 PM PDT by is_is (VPD of Lcpl Daniel - 2/5 - Sleep Well America.....My Marine has your Back)
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To: ChadGore
"It's tediously untrue."

Yup. The Brits and Canadian have been kicking butt. 720 Taliban dead in 9 days. The Taliban can't sustain those kind of losses.

11 posted on 09/12/2006 3:34:25 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

12 posted on 09/12/2006 3:37:17 PM PDT by xpertskir (Media, the plural of mediocrity)
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To: blam

How many troops do we have in Bosnia?


13 posted on 09/12/2006 3:40:24 PM PDT by TexanToTheCore (This space for hire...)
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To: blam

They should simply ask for well-organized American militia to volunteer. As was done in the Spanish-American war.


14 posted on 09/12/2006 3:48:12 PM PDT by Jack Black
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To: Darkwolf377
The Islamofascists will then take over the planet, other than the US and Canada (we like the lumber and oil), and we will pour all our foreign aid money into Star Wars, and we'll be safe and secure while the rest of the world lives in the slavery it so obviously wishes for.

I doubt the Chinese are worried about the Islamists. They may have some Uighurs, but they aren't as infiltrated as we are, and are untroubled by scruples, so they'll clean house if they think it necessary. They're "riding the tiger", favoring the Islamists to get advantages in resource supply while we get grief as the "Great Satan."

15 posted on 09/12/2006 3:52:56 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine (Is /sarc really needed?)
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To: xpertskir

16 posted on 09/12/2006 3:56:15 PM PDT by diverteach
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To: Lekker 1

I can't tell who's mooning who in the title.


17 posted on 09/12/2006 4:06:51 PM PDT by Brilliant
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To: blam

This is a slap-in-the-face example to those Europeans who have high hopes of creating a European army. Any European country that ever hopes to be involved in world affairs will have to have its own army--and one big enough to make a difference. They cannot rely on their partners for squat.

Not just for war, but even for humanitarian missions.

Of course, the EU bureaucrats would say that only if they had complete power over all Europe, would this change. And that's an even more laughable prospect.


18 posted on 09/12/2006 4:16:09 PM PDT by Popocatapetl
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To: pissant
Yawn...

The lefties always writing how gloomy times are in absence of the lefties in power. They will continue doing so - hopefully, till the end of time.
19 posted on 09/12/2006 4:20:56 PM PDT by alecqss
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To: Darkwolf377
Just today I am starting to think we should have only trade partners.

It's nice to see someone else catch onto the original George Dubya's wisdom.

20 posted on 09/12/2006 5:00:53 PM PDT by Gunslingr3
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