NATO needs more soldiers in Afghanistan, former general says

Last Updated: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 | 4:28 PM ET

CBC News

A retired Canadian major-general, Lewis MacKenzie, says NATO needs many more soldiers in Afghanistan to keep up the pressure on the Taliban militants.

The NATO commander "needs 30,000 more troops. He needs to double his force," MacKenzie told CBC Newsworld on Wednesday. NATO has about 32,000 soldiers in the country.

The more than 2,000 Canadians who have been fighting the Taliban around Kandahar in southern Afghanistan need more support so they can take advantage of their victories, MacKenzie said.

"We've got to dig in and protect the area we've taken from the bad guys. Our guys are kind of pinned to the ground and can't exploit success."

Earlier Wednesday, NATO leaders meeting in Europe agreed that more support would be provided to the soldiers on the ground, and some of the troops already there who are restricted in their operations would be allowed to be sent into danger zones.

The additional support includes fighter planes, helicopters, several infantry companies and training teams, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay said he believed that the commitments of additional soldiers will total more than 1,200. NATO had wanted 2,500.

But "the south is still in need of reserves," Canadian Gen. Ray Henault said.

NATO soldiers can help in emergencies

Soldiers from NATO members such as France, Germany and Italy, who are already on the ground but deployed in the calmer north and often under restrictions which keep them away from the fighting, will be able to move in emergencies.

That term was not defined, but MacKenzie said it's self-evident. "I think everyone can deduce an emergency means that those of us in the south are in danger and need help," he said.

"Unless some large number of nations get off their butts … and get down to Southern Afghanistan and augment our troops, then the mission is threatened," he said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the additional soldiers, but was cautious about the lifting of the restrictions on the soldiers already there.

"Many of the caveats softened have often been caveats to do with emergencies; obviously we don't intend to be in an emergency," he said.
 
British Prime Minster Tony Blair said the NATO meeting was positive because all of the members recognized that the Afghanistan mission was critical.

Britain, like Canada, has solders in the south fighting the Taliban.

Out of the 44 deaths among Canadian soldiers since the mission began in early 2002, 36 have happened in 2006.