BRUSSELS (AP) A top Pentagon official says President Barack
Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan will be certain to include
reinforcements of foreign troops from both the United States and
allied nations.
Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy said a strategy
decision on new deployments involving the U.S. and other
troop-contributing nations would be made within the next few weeks,
according to an official transcript released Saturday.
Flournoy, the Pentagon's policy chief, led a U.S. delegation
that briefed NATO ambassadors Thursday on the Obama
administration's review of the Afghan war. Officials released a
transcript of her remarks from that meeting.
''No one is talking about leaving Afghanistan, or even standing
pat. We are increasing our commitment and we're talking about how
best to do that with both civilian and military resources,''
Flournoy was quoted as telling NATO ambassadors.
The allies are engaged in intense deliberations regarding the
future of the 71,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan, nearly half
of which is American. The U.S. military also has about 36,000
soldiers in Afghanistan who serve outside NATO under their own
command.
Stanley McChrystal, the NATO and U.S. commander in Afghanistan,
is calling for tens of thousands more American and allied troops as
the Afghan war drags into its ninth year.
But opinion polls in many troop-providing countries indicate
growing opposition to sending more soldiers at a time of economic
crisis, shrinking defense budgets and increasing disillusionment
with the war.
World leaders have been warning President Hamid Karzai that he
must crack down on corruption if he expects continued international
support.
NATO officials said Thursday's talks did not deal with any
requests for troops. That subject is expected to be discussed at a
meeting of NATO foreign ministers next month.
A U.S. request for more NATO troops could spark a rift among
allied nations, some of which have announced plans to start
reducing their troop commitments in Afghanistan next year. Others
have indicated they may consider modest increases.
(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)