7,000 more non-U.S. troops going to Afghanistan
Last Updated: Friday, December 4, 2009 | 7:31 PM ET
CBC News
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen arrives at NATO headquarters ahead of a foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Friday. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press)NATO members and countries from outside the alliance will send 7,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan to join the 30,000 being sent by the United States.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary general, made the announcement Friday in Brussels at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
"In addition to the clear pledges already tabled, we have heard indications, or more than indications, that other allies and partners will be and probably will be in a position to announce contributions in the coming weeks and months," said Rasmussen.
He said 25 countries have agreed to send forces.
The troop announcement is 2,000 higher than the pledge of 5,000 soldiers that Rasmussen cited on Tuesday.
The troops announced Friday come from NATO countries including Britain, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic. Georgia, a country that wants to join NATO, has also promised nearly 1,000 soldiers. Another non-NATO ally, South Korea, will deliver around 400 troops.
Germany and France, two major NATO countries, did not commit any more troops, though they may at a summit on Afghanistan in England scheduled for this January. Other countries are looking to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan: the Netherlands aims to pull its troops out next year and Canada is sticking to its plan to wrap up combat operations in 2011.
Meanwhile, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates signed the first orders Friday deploying troops to Afghanistan under President Barack Obama's new surge strategy. Defence and military officials say Gates signed orders for the first group of marines and soldiers who will go to Afghanistan.
The orders cover forces deploying over the coming two to three months.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the NATO troops need to be provided as quickly as possible as well.
"The need for additional forces is urgent, but their presence will not be definite," Clinton told the meeting of NATO's highest political council.
The Associated Press said diplomatic sources indicated firm commitments total about 5,500 soldiers, with another 1,500 troops expected on the basis of "indications" from some countries.
But even these new troops won't change the fact the real war in Afghanistan is still being fought by a small group of countries, chief among them the U.S.
Most of the forces announced Friday won't be going to the front lines.
But analysts say, in some ways, this is more about political support than ground support.
"America is divided," said Dana Allin, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "So, in terms of political morale, I think it would be damaging for a feeling that we're going in on a larger scale while our allies are looking for the exit signs."
