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Britain Blasts NATO Members Over Reluctance in Afghanistan
By Andrew Chuter, London
Complete article: http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=2907291&C=europe
British Parliamentarians have hit out over the continuing failure by some NATO member countries to provide troops for Afghanistan, saying it has undermined the credibility of the alliance and the International Security Assistance Force operations.
A report by the House of Commons defense committee on U.K. operations in Afghanistan released July 18 says it remains deeply concerned over the reluctance of some NATO members to provide troops for the mission.
The report also criticized the practice among some NATO countries of deploying troops to the country but placing restrictions on their use effectively keeping them out of harms way.
Progress has been made in reducing national caveats, but we remain concerned that national caveats risk impairing the effectiveness of the ISAF mission, the committee said.
James Arbuthnot, the committee chairman, said in a statement that it was clear an international presence will be required in Afghanistan beyond 2009.
If that commitment is to succeed, its size and strength must be very great, and in our view, considerably greater than the international community is at present willing to acknowledge, let alone to make, he said.
Defense Secretary Des Browne agreed with the reports criticism of some NATO nations.
NATO nations should do more to meet the shortfalls in requirements. The U.K. continues to lobby other nations to provide more in terms of military and nonmilitary resources, he said in a statement.
Agence-France Presse:
French Super-Etendard fighter planes have been carrying out dozens of missions to support France's special forces and other coalition troops operating in southern Afghanistan, as well as reconnaissance flights.
France has about 200 special forces troops in "Operation Enduring Freedom" in the south and east of the central Asian country. The admiral said the Taliban had regained a degree of initiative, but added: "There is also a coalition plan in place, which aims ... to move them away from areas where daily life has started to function again."
Coalition officials want to "isolate the rebels in areas where they can do less harm" before eliminating them, Magne said. The Charles de Gaulle is scheduled to end its air support and reconnaissance campaign on May 23 after nearly three weeks of flights over Afghan territory. French aircraft subsequently will carry out similar missions from a base in Tajikistan.
KABUL, Aug 26, 2006 (AFP) - Two French special forces soldiers were killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan where they were working with a US-led coalition hunting down Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces, officials said Saturday.
http://www.rpfrance-otan.org/article.php3?id_article=407
In southern Helmand province, one French soldier was killed and a French and an American soldier were injured during a gunfight with militants Saturday, said Capt. Drew Gibson, a spokesman for the British military.
The French Defense Ministry announced earlier that two French special forces troops also were killed Saturday in neighboring Kandahar province.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-05-21-afghanistan_x.htm
Reuters:
Film produced by two journalists says French special forces had al-Qaeda leader in their sights twice about three years ago, but their US superiors never ordered them to fire
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3342268,00.html
Your citations are a year old. If you knew anything about NATO combat in Afghanistan, you would be aware that regular French, German, Spanish, and Turk forces are not allowed by their governments to engage the Taliban or Al Qaeda on the ground in southern Afghanistan, where all of the fighting is occurring. They are consigned to guard duty in the uncontested northern areas of the country. Moreover, these countries have refused to send any more troops to Afghanistan. Which hardly matters since they will not fight. The US has by far the most troops on the ground in Afghanistan; they are doing most of the fighting along with the British, Canadians, and Dutch.What good is a military alliance that includes France and Turkey? In Afghanistan, France, Germany, Spain, and Turkey (NATO countries) have refused to allow their troops to engage in fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The word "France" and "Turkey" do not even appear in your article, at least when I did a word search. Did you just "assume" they were talking about France?
7/16/07 As is well known, only Canada, Britain, the Netherlands and the United States have committed significant numbers of troops to the south. The courageous Canadian troops have registered the highest casualty rate so far in the fight against the Taliban. Other NATO partners have insisted on "caveats" that prevent their troops from moving out of the relative safety of the north or west or even from contributing their military equipment. http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=ec60ca77-d33f-4085-8683-d6925c5c7079
