Reply #5: 'Bloody outrageous': NATO allies bristle after U.S. questions skills

[maddezmom]

'Bloody outrageous': NATO allies bristle after U.S. questions skills

January 16, 2008
FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRUSSELS, Belgium — Some of America’s closest NATO allies reacted with surprise and disbelief Wednesday to reported comments from U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggesting that their troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan are not up to the job.

The Dutch Defense Ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador for an explanation of a Los Angeles Times article that said Gates suggested soldiers from Canada, Britain and the Netherlands did not know how to fight a guerrilla insurgency.

In Washington, Gates’ spokesman Geoff Morrell said the secretary had ‘‘read the article and is disturbed by what he read.’’

Morrell did not challenge the accuracy of the quotes in the story, but said he thought it left the wrong impression — that Gates had singled out a particular country.

‘‘For the record he did not — to the L.A. Times or at any time otherwise — publicly ever criticize any single country for their performance in or commitment to the mission in Afghanistan,’’ Morrell told Pentagon reporters in Washington.

more:http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/743552,nato011608.article