http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\12\16\story_16-12-2007_pg 4_10
R E G I O N: Australia frustrated at NATO partners' Afghan commitment * Foreign minister says 'we believe there is a lack of coherent strategy' * Pledges long-term commitment to Afghanistan EDINBURGH: Australia is frustrated that some NATO nations are failing to pull their weight in the fight against the insurgency in southern Afghanistan, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Friday. Fitzgibbon said a meeting of eight nations which have troops fighting on the frontline in the violence-hit south had allowed Australia to vent its "frustration with the limited progress". "We have been frustrated about that for a long, long time," Fitzgibbon told reporters. "We believe there is a lack of coherent strategy and, of course, we are frustrated by the fact that some NATO nations, in our view, are not doing enough or making a sufficient contribution to the campaign." Fitzgibbon said a "strategic plan" for the violence-hit southern part of Afghanistan had been agreed at the meeting in Edinburgh of ministers from Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia and Romania. He refused to say which NATO countries were not pulling their weight, but said his criticism was not directed at the countries which attended the meeting. Those not attending included Germany. Fitzgibbon, part of Australia's newly-elected Labor government, pledged his country's long-term commitment to Afghanistan but warned it was not prepared to compensate for nations who wanted to cut their troop numbers. "We have no intention of increasing our contribution just so some other partner can reduce their contribution," he said. Australia has about 900 troops in Afghanistan, the bulk of them assisting a Dutch-led reconstruction operation in the southern province of Uruzgan, a former Taliban stronghold. British Defence Secretary Des Browne, who had called for nations to share the burden in Afghanistan, claimed the Edinburgh talks had made "considerable progress". afp [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
