NATO sending more support to Afghanistan

[jefferson_dem]

NATO sending more support to Afghanistan
By TOM RAUM Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press
April 4, 2009, 9:02AM

STRASBOURG, France — NATO allies have agreed to send up to 5,000 more military personnel to Afghanistan as the alliance steps up its campaign to stabilize the country before elections in August, the White House said Saturday.

About 3,000 of the personnel will be on short-term deployments, sent in to provide security before the pivotal elections this summer, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Another 1,400 to 2,000 will provide training for Afghanistan's national army.

"If we don't get the security around the elections right, a lot of the other things we want to do won't matter," Gibbs said.

NATO leaders also agreed to create a $100 million trust fund to assist Afghanistan's army, with $57 million of it coming from Germany.

The United States is sending in 21,000 additional troops as part of President Barack Obama's new anti-terror strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Earlier Saturday, Obama welcomed Albania and Croatia to the alliance and declared to other nations that "the door to membership will remain open."

"It is a measure of our vitality that we are still welcoming new members," Obama said of NATO, which is marking its 60th anniversary at a summit dominated by the war in Afghanistan.

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/world/6358678.html?xid=rss-page

[elleng]

1. Prez O. discussing this at press conference now.

on cnn.com.

[jefferson_dem]

3. Thanks.

I caught the tail end of that.

This man is commanding major respect on the global stage. :patriot:

[elleng]

4. Presser w. Merkel avail. at MSNBC

.

[ShortnFiery]

2. Obama is wrong on this one. Afghanistan: Where empire goes to die. nt

[elleng]

5. Aware of different goal now than others?

.

[indep_kidd]

6. Care to explain?

I don't get what you're inferring.

We're in Afghanistan now and we have always needed support with that country so why not welcome more support?

If we just pull out (if *that* is what you're inferring) then we would have just wasted lives and resources and got nothing but *more* trouble in the process.

I'm not saying any of this is perfect but we need to do something. In fact the world needs to do something about stuff like this--start taking more responsibility with their borders and their citizens and those fleeing to and from their countries.

[Cali_Democrat]

7. Another diplomatic victory for Obama. (nt)