http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=us-to-urge-nato-to-focus-on-afghanistan-missile-defense-2010-02-04
Bloomberg News February 4, 2010 US to urge NATO focus on Afghanistan, missile defense ISTANBUL: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will urge European allies at a meeting in Turkey to inject more funding into NATO with a focus on Afghanistan and priorities such as missile defense, officials said. Gates arrived in Istanbul Tuesday for a meeting with his 27 fellow defense ministers in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which leads 43 nations fighting the war in Afghanistan.... Gates will urge allies to “contribute their forces in this cause in as timely a manner as possible,” Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on the way to Istanbul. He’s concerned the alliance spends too much on outdated programs, Morrell said. President Barack Obama is calling for more troops in Afghanistan to supplement the additional 30,000 U.S. soldiers he authorized in December. U.S. allies have so far committed about 9,000 troops in support of Obama’s new strategy.... Obama’s increase will bring the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to about 100,000 by the end of this year, alongside almost 50,000 from other nations. NATO’s desire to get involved with a planned U.S. missile defense system...will also require more money from members, who should fund the missile command and control backbone for the system, another U.S. official told reporters on condition of anonymity. New Priorities Afghanistan and missile defense are examples of the new priorities that Gates wants NATO to focus on. The alliance...is due to develop a new “strategic concept” by the time its heads of state meet later this year. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week that she will send 500 additional German troops to Afghanistan, bowing to U.S. pressure to widen a mission that most Germans oppose.... The U.S. aims to increase the size of the Afghan army and police, which together now number 195,000, to 243,000 by December and 305,600 by October 2011. .... =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ==============================
