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SEVILLE, Feb 8: The United States stepped up pressure on Nato allies on Thursday to send more troops to crush an expected Taliban offensive, saying the next few weeks would be pivotal in battling the insurgency.
But despite mounting impatience in Washington, European countries were likely to deflect the calls at a meeting of defence chiefs in Seville amid signs of differences over mission priorities.
New US and British reinforcements mean the two allies will in coming months provide over half of the 33,000-strong Nato Afghan force between them, located predominantly in the Taliban's southern heartlands and by the Pakistan border.
“We think the upcoming spring in Afghanistan is a pivotal moment in the conflict and we're encouraging the allies to do as much as they can, as soon as they can,” said a senior US defence official travelling with Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
“We're doing our bit,” the official said. “So we'll see what the allies can do.”
Nato is expecting Taliban insurgents to step up violence in coming weeks as snows melt and the weather gets warmer. The Islamic militant group over-ran the town of Musa Qala in the southern Helmand province last week.
“If we don't send more troops to Afghanistan, there is a risk we could fail,” Danish Defence Minister Soeren Gade, whose country has some 390 troops mainly in the south, told reporters.
Spain, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Turkey have ruled out reinforcements. Germany, which on Wednesday confirmed plans to send six reconnaissance jets to the south, has resisted calls to deploy any of its nearly 3,000 ground troops to the south.“The issue is not always talking about military resources but meshing security and reconstruction,” German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters.
CRUNCH YEAR: With more than 4,000 people killed in violence, last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001.
European capitals argue their armies are already stretched by Nato, UN and European Union missions around the world and say that committing to send more troops to Afghanistan would threaten fragile public support for the mission in Europe.
Bush's Republicans face elections in 2008 and his administration sees the next 12 months as a crunch year in which it must show voters it is getting the upper hand against insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But one Nato military official acknowledged differences between the United States and some European allies over whether Nato Afghan force commander US General Dan McNeill should make security or reconstruction the top priority.
“McNeill's concern is reconstruction and you can't have that without security. But you can't have security, allies won't add for security, unless there's dedication on reconstruction,” said the source, who requested anonymity.—Reuters
