Afghan-NATO partnership good, but more trainers needed

Feb 20, 2009, 8:29 GMT

Krakow, Poland - The Afghan army is leading an increasing number of counter-insurgency operations, but NATO needs to provide it with far more trainers if it is to meet its target of expanding to 134,000 by 2010, alliance officials said Thursday.

And while there are now 'many rays of sunshine' in Afghanistan, much still needs to be done, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told NATO defence ministers meeting in Krakow, Poland.

'The south and east of Afghanistan are riven by insurgency, while drugs and the lack of effective government contribute to frustration felt by Afghans at the lack of progress in building their country up,' the NATO chief said.

De Hoop Scheffer expressed regret at last year's record number of civilian casualties, as highlighted by a recent UN report, but blamed the Taliban for using children and young women as human shields.

'I have never met a NATO soldier ... who would intentionally kill innocent civilians. The intent to kill innocent civilians by the thousands is the intent of the Taliban,' he said.

To prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorists, NATO should send 'more forces, more trainers' and launch 'a civilian surge.'

His comments came in the wake of a decision by US President Barack Obama to send an additional 17,000 soldiers to Afghanistan. The move was welcomed by ministers meeting in Krakow, but it added pressure on them to do more.

'More forces is not only leaning back and waiting for our American friends,' he said, 'it is very much for the other allies to live up to their commitment.'

Updated figures show the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan having now grown to 56,400 soldiers from 41 nations. But nearly half of these are from the US.

Speaking on his way to Krakow, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates offered concessions to those Europeans allies unwilling to commit troops to Afghanistan's most restive regions by saying they could also help its development and its fight against drugs and corruption.

'These are all areas where civilian contributions can be made,' Gates said.

According to NATO commanders, the Afghan army now leads about half of all counter-insurgency operations in the country and participates in most of them.

Its size is set to expand to 86,000 troops by the end of March and to 134,000 by the end of 2010.

The international community is helping by providing about 50 training teams, but at least 20 more are needed, officials said.

Ideal candidates for the job include French gendarmes, Italian carabinieri and Canadian mounted police officers.

NATO officials also said ISAF's three-week-old fight against drug traffickers who finance the insurgency had already lead to 'several arrests,' the closure of 11 labs and the seizure of 500,000 dollars worth of narcotics.

Defence ministers, meanwhile, said they were committed to ensuring that the August 20 presidential elections, in which Hamid Karzai is seeking a new mandate, run smoothly.

Germany, which is ISAF's third-largest contributor, with about 3,400 troops, has already announced the deployment of an additional 600 soldiers. Of these, 200 will be sent on a temporary basis during the election period.

And Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa confirmed in Krakow that Italy could, by June, increase its troops by 500 to 2,800 and send an extra 250 soldiers during the elections.

Ahead of the Krakow meeting, Gates had suggested that the Afghan elections could provide new impetus for the deployment of the NATO Response Force (NRF), a lean stand-alone military force designed to be quickly deployed anywhere in the world and whose use has been bogged down for years by disagreements within the alliance.

But the suggestion was rapidly shot down by his German colleague Franz Josef Jung.

'The NRF should not be considered as a reserve force. In principle, it has a very different role to play,' Jung said.

One compromise tabled by diplomats could see allies commit some of their planned NRF troops to Afghanistan instead.

During their two days of talks in Krakow, defence ministers were also likely to discuss a proposal by British Defence Minister John Hutton for the creation of a standing force of some 3,000 troops to defend the alliance's territory against possible attacks.

Hutton told the Financial Times that such a force would both reassure NATO's Eastern European members, shaken by last year's invasion by Russia of Georgia, and help break the deadlock over the NRF, while eventually freeing up more resources for Afghanistan.

Part of Thursday's talks were also attended by Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and the United Nations' special envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide of Norway.