Gates hopeful for some Afghan reinforcements
Foreign Desk Report

COPENHAGEN—US Defense Secretary Robert Gates Tuesday said he was “reasonably optimistic” NATO would send reinforcements to southern Afghanistan but they would not be “anywhere near” the commander’s requirements.
Danish Defence Minister Soeren Gade, meanwhile, said Danish forces would stay in southern Afghanistan despite rising casualties. The killing of a Danish soldier in Afghan fighting Monday raised the Danish combat death toll to 14, most of them in the past year amid a resurgence of Taliban fighting.
“Every one of these casualties is a tragedy but it is for a greater cause — security in Europe, security in America as well as helping the Afghan people to develop their country,” Gates told journalists in Denmark. “There are a handful of us that are carrying the burden. Denmark is clearly one of the most significant ones, along with Canada, Australia, the British and ourselves.”
The Danish daily Politiken published photographs of the dead, underscoring the rising cost of the Afghan conflict to Denmark, which officials said has the highest per capita death toll of any of the allies. The Danish defence minister said his country’s troops had faced tough fighting and acknowledged that the losses had been painful.
But he said, “We have no plans whatsoever to withdraw or something like that.” The United States and allies with troops in the south have been pressing for other countries to contribute more forces and equipment to fill a shortfall experienced by the 43,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Canada, which also has suffered rising casualties, has made its continuing presence in southern Afghanistan conditional on other countries providing at least 1,000 troops as reinforcements along with helicopters and unmanned aircraft. The issue has risen to the top of the agenda of a NATO summit April 2-4 in Bucharest.
“I am reasonably optimistic that there will be more soldiers available for RC-South,” Gates said, using the military’s designation for the southern Afghan sector. NATO’s minimum requirement is for two maneuver battalions and a border security battalion for ISAF, but the commander of the force, General Dan McNeil, has requested two combat brigades and a brigade of trainers — a much larger force of about 10,000 troops.
“I don’t think we’ll be anywhere near that number,” Gates said. The United States is sending 3,500 marines, including 2,500 combat troops and 1,000 trainers, for a seven month tour to meet part of the requirement. A senior US defence official on Monday told reporters traveling with Gates that he was confident that allies will provide the 1,000-strong battle group sought by Canada.
Georgia, which hopes to be considered for NATO membership, announced Tuesday it was prepared to send 500 hundred soldiers to Afghanistan. In a much criticised move, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced last week that France would increase the size of its 1,600-member military force in Afghanistan. He provided no numbers but sources in Paris said it would be more than 1,000 troops.
President Bush is putting his full weight behind the desire by Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO even though Russia is opposed and the alliance is split.
Bush on Tuesday pledged complete support for the bids despite vehement Russian opposition and French and German objections to allowing the former Soviet states to begin the NATO admission process.
His strong stance sets up a showdown in the trans-Atlantic military alliance, whose leaders will decide this week whether to give Ukraine and Georgia “membership action plans.”