Allies' reluctance undermining Afghan mission: British report

Last Updated: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 | 12:04 PM ET

CBC News

NATO's military mission in Afghanistan is being "undermined" by some alliance members' failure to provide adequate troops amid signs the Taliban are gaining strength, a report by Britain's Parliament has concluded.

The report published Wednesday by the House of Commons defence committee warned the entire campaign is at risk if NATO members continue to refuse to deploy additional soldiers and increase development aid.

"We remain deeply concerned that the reluctance of some NATO countries to provide troops for the ISAF mission in Afghanistan is undermining NATO's credibility and also ISAF operations," the report said in reference to the 37-nation International Security Assistance Force.

"Moreover, civilian casualties undermine support for ISAF and the government of Afghanistan and fuel the insurgency, further endangering our troops."

France, Germany should 'pony up': military analyst

Britain has complained that its forces, along with Canadian, U.S. and Dutch soldiers, are the only ones from the 37,000-strong NATO force who are fighting the Taliban in the most violent areas.

Other NATO-contributing countries restrict the use of their forces to relatively peaceful areas in the north.

"There's a number of NATO countries that have significant capabilities on the ground and they should be encouraged to help out and pull their weight" in the south and east, said retired Rear Admiral Ken Summers, a Canadian military analyst in Victoria.

In particular, he pointed to France and Germany.

"The obvious one is France, she's got a great capability and I think she should be operating in the south and she can contribute significantly," Summers told CBC News.

"I would also say Germany, who actually have a large contingent there but they're in the relatively benign north, even though there's more IEDs and bombs in the Kabul area, but they too have a great capability and they too should be redeployed or should be able to be redeployed down to the southern areas."

He said Spain could also "pony up" more forces.

Canada has been "punching above our weight" in the mission, he said, but added that more can be done.

"I think, in certain areas, it may be a question of finite capabilities. Perhaps on the engineering side or the support side or in the civilian support to the reconstruction, we may end up having to provide more support."

Spain, Italy, Germany and France, all members of both the European Union and NATO, have refused to send additional troops to Afghanistan. 

Canadian troops praised

British defence committee chairman James Arbuthnot singled out the 2,500 Canadian troops participating in the mission for their "extraordinarily good" work, but said additional help is needed for their successes to take hold.

"There are too few countries who are providing support for this mission," Arbuthnot told CBC News in an interview from London.

"The British troops and the Canadian troops are working extremely well alongside each other, and we must not allow the sacrifices that they are making and the work they are doing to be frittered away by a failure to support them from other countries."

Arbuthnot also urged Canada to consider keeping troops in the country past 2009.

"I do hope the Canadians will keep an open mind," he said, adding that while Britain's commitment is to 2009 as well, "I would be astonished if the United Kingdom decided not to continue its deployment to Afghanistan because of the need to consolidate and build on the work already done."

During the final day of his state visit to Chile, Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeated that he will not extend Canada's military mission in Afghanistan beyond February 2009 without a "consensus" in Parliament.

Harper has said NATO's failure to persuade other countries in the alliance to shoulder some of the burden in Afghanistan would be a factor in Canada's participation in the mission beyond 2009.

"I was pleased to see the report acknowledges Canada's playing a full and very positive role in Afghanistan," Harper said. "At the same time, this government has been clear … that there has to be a more equitable burden sharing in Afghanistan."

Sixty-six Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed since Canada began participating in the NATO mission in 2002.

The bipartisan panel also criticized the lack of rapid progress of NATO's work to combat the opium trade in Afghanistan and said the alliance is failing to inform ordinary Afghans of the mission's success stories, leaving civilians vulnerable to Taliban public relations efforts.

British Defence Secretary Des Browne called the report balanced and said he recognizes there are problems, but stressed the Afghanistan mission needs to continue and succeed.

"To allow this place to become a training ground for al-Qaeda or for any other terrorist as it was before, and to allow them not just to deliver their activities to Kabul or any other of parts of Afghanistan, but to the streets of our cities, is exactly the wrong thing to do," Browne said.

With files from the Associated Press