Gates faults NATO allies in southern Afghanistan

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has publicly criticized some fellow NATO forces in Afghanistan, saying they do not know how to fight a guerrilla insurgency.

Gates, who on Tuesday ordered extra 3,200 U.S. Marines to Afghanistan, said in an interview published in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that some European allies were still geared to the type of combat envisioned by Cold War planners before the fall of the Soviet Union.

"I'm worried we're deploying (military advisors) that are not properly trained and I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency. They were trained for the Fulda Gap," said Gates, referring to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was deemed most likely.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080116/wl_nm/usa_afghanistan_gates_dc

[acmavm]

1. Well that ought to go over well. What if they say that if we hadn't

gone into Iraq and taken care of business in Afganistan things would be a lot different now?

edit: Punctuation

[Kolesar]

2. Good reasons not to fund missile-defense, stealth bombers and supersonic interceptors, too

"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency. They were trained for the Fulda Gap," said Gates, referring to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was deemed most likely.

[daleo]

3. And the U.S. has been doing such a great job

I guess the Europeans (Canadians too?) aren't killing enough wedding parties.

[JBoy]

4. Ridiculous statement made by Gates

"Most of the European forces ... were trained for the Fulda Gap," Actually Mr Gates, most of the soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan would have been in elementary school as the Cold War came to a close.

First you complain that NATO countries aren't pulling their weight in Afghanistan, then you complain that they're not capable. Way to win support from your allies.

[maddezmom]

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

'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

[Andy Canuck]

6. Gates is right and we (Canadians) suck at fighting and we should leave Afghanistan right now.

We are losing more soldiers per capita in Afghanistan then the US is in Iraq. His words will be deeply considered in Ottawa.

[Andy Canuck]

10. I need to add that the Canadians are fighting an incredibly difficult battle

in Southern Afghanistan. They are fighting with honour and their lives in a war that the US left, and is now about to grow out of control. So fuck you Mr. Gates.

[Ghost Dog]

7. I believe most European contingents went into Afghanistan

expecting to be doing 'peacekeeping' and mostly 'reconstruction' work.

[Eugene]

8. Pentagon Moves to Blunt Gates' Rebuke of NATO Allies

Source: Voice of America

Pentagon Moves to Blunt Gates' Rebuke of NATO Allies
By Al Pessin
Pentaton
16 January 2008

The Pentagon is moving to blunt concern and criticism that
is already coming from European allies, in the wake of an
article in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times. The article quotes
Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying some NATO forces
in Afghanistan have not been properly trained for the
challenges they face there. VOA's Al Pessin reports from
the Pentagon.

The article quotes Secretary Gates as saying he is "worried"
that NATO is deploying some military advisers and combat
forces that, in his words, "are not properly trained and...
don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations."

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says Secretary Gates
was not misquoted, but that he is "disturbed" that the
article implies he was critical of individual NATO countries.
The article was published the day after the United States
announced it will send 3,000 marines to Afghanistan, most
of them to help NATO troops in restive southern areas.

"For the record, he did not -- to the L.A. Times or at any
time otherwise -- publicly ever criticize any single country
for the performance in or commitment to the mission
in Afghanistan," said Morrell.

-snip-

Read more: http://voanews.com/english/2008-01-16-voa58.cfm

[cal04]

9. NATO tensions surface as Gates faults Afghan forces

(snip)
The remarks to the Los Angeles Times appeared after Gates on Tuesday ordered an extra 3,200 U.S. Marines to Afghanistan -- the bulk of them to the south -- after failing to persuade European leaders to provide reinforcements.

"I have no indication -- and neither has the military chain of command -- that any country or countries are not exercising their tasks to the highest levels," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told Reuters, rebutting the criticism.

"There is no reason not to conclude that all nations, including the ones in the south, are performing very well," he said of the 42,000-strong NATO-led ISAF force.

(snip)
Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said in Ottawa that Gates had called him on Wednesday afternoon to say the quotes had been taken out of context and he had been talking generally about training to fight a counter-insurgency.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080116/wl_nm/afghan_nato_dc

[JBoy]

11. "I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations,"

Yeah, lack of the right kind of training can be detrimental to the outcome of operations.

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. I furget now. Was she winning their hearts, or minds in that pic ?

.
.
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Talk about cruel and unusual punishment, Sheesh!

"USA NOMBA ONE"

yeah, right . .