Our World

NATO Meets Happily in Latvia

NATO met in Latvia this past Tuesday stressing that all members deploy more troops to southern Afghanistan because more violence seems to be occurring there. The German Chancellor said her country wouldn’t expand its 2,900 troops permanently but could send some to the southern part IF there’s an emergency. It seems like the area has been so unstable, literally explosive with more deaths recently than every before, so I question what she considers to exactly be an emergency.
Canada is also pleading for more help in southern Afghanistan because they have had 36 deaths this year alone. Poland said hundreds of their troops will be delayed because barracks were not ready for their troops. Wow, this is amazing when the Afghan mission is considered to be NATO’S No. 1 operation. NATO’s Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer “urged NATO allies not to lose heart, insisting the operation was a “mission possible.” Do you ever feel like I do, and see it a mission Impossible?
Overall, leaders were not able to convince other countries to lessen their restrictions so more of their troops could help out. The article stated that all 26 allies have troops in the force, yet the U.S., Canada, Britain and a few others are fighting the Taliban in the most brutal areas of Afghanistan. Countries like France, Spain, Italy, and Germany have stationed their troops where it is not as violent in northern Afghanistan. This seems to send a pretty clear picture to me. Although NATO is supposed to be a united force in this mission, it just doesn’t seem like all are committed equally to the peace keeping efforts.
NATO is hoping by 2008 that Afghan forces will be taking over security tasks. I think that’s quite an optimistic goal but certainly hope I am proven wrong.
www.cnn.com

posted by Anonymous @ 12/01/2006 03:53:00 PM