Oct 7, 2009, 15:46 GMT
Brussels - Europe must step up its efforts in Afghanistan if it wants to avoid straining relations with the United States, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Wednesday.
'It is important, not only for this operation, but also for the long-term health of transatlantic relationships, that non-US allies also find a way to contribute more' to NATO's mission in Afghanistan, Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels.
'The US must know and see that in difficult times, this alliance stands together and contributes together. If the US does not see that now, many in the US will wonder about Europe as a real partner for security. That would be damaging over the long term for NATO,' Rasmussen said.
The NATO chief's monthly press conference coincided with the eighth anniversary of the first US-led aerial bombing in Afghanistan, which paved the way for the eventual ousting of the Taliban regime in Kabul.
Eight years on, the West is still in danger of losing its war against the Taliban insurgency unless it steps up its efforts, General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander of US forces in Afghanistan, has warned.
The US currently provides about half of the total troops in NATO's 67,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The US also runs a separate mission in the country and is now considering deploying additional troops to the region.
Europe's efforts, meanwhile, have been constrained by strong public opposition to the mission.
And three events occurring over the past 24 hours suggested that there will be little appetite for more troops when NATO defence ministers meet in Bratislava later this month.
On Tuesday, the Dutch parliament voted against extending the country's military mission in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan after 2010.
And on Wednesday, a BBC poll suggested that the number of Britons opposing the Afghan mission had risen to 56 per cent. Meanwhile, the death of a Spanish soldier in western Afghanistan earlier in the day was set to re-ignite a debate about Spain's involvement in ISAF.
While expressing his condolences for the Spanish victim, Rasmussen stressed that 'this alliance is about sharing security.
'This doesn't mean just sharing the benefits, it also means sharing the costs and the risks,' Rasmussen said.
The NATO chief said the alliance was currently studying McChrystal's latest assessment and declined to quantify how many extra troops might be needed in Afghanistan.
Allies should in the meantime focus on improving the training of the Afghan army and of its police force, so as to allow the Afghans to 'provide for their own security.'
The secretary general, a former prime minister from Denmark, also criticized the European Union for the slow progress of its own Afghan training mission, with fewer than 300 of planned 400 trainers being deployed to date.
'It is a bit embarassing that the EU has not succeeded yet in the full deployment of its police mission to Afghanistan,' Rasmussen said.
'I know this is a difficult period. The operations are challenging. But there should be no doubt ... that NATO's commitment to this mission is as strong as ever,' he said.
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