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Agence France-Presse November 30, 2009 3 European Nations Pledge More Afghanistan Troops By KATHERINE HADDON -"Afghanistan is a test for the Atlantic alliance's credibility," [Italian Foreign Minister Franco] Frattini said...."It is clear that Italy must finish the job started with NATO and make a greater contribution if it is needed." LONDON: Britain, Italy and Macedonia said Monday they were ready to send extra soldiers into Afghanistan, as U.S. President Barack Obama was expected to announce a massive surge of U.S. troops for the country. Obama is expected to unveil on Tuesday plans to send between 30,000 and 35,000 reinforcements to a NATO-led force...in Afghanistan as part of a strategy intended to, in his words, "finish the job." On the eve of his speech, the three European nations said they were also prepared to boost their military commitment to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) drawn from nearly 40 countries. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said London would boost its regular troops in Afghanistan by 500, bringing its total deployment there over the 10,000 mark. "I believe over the coming months, even more countries will respond," Brown told lawmakers in the House of Commons. .... Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome was ready to send more troops but he did not specify how many. Italy has 3,250 soldiers in ISAF, the sixth largest contingent in the international alliance. "Afghanistan is a test for the Atlantic alliance's credibility," Frattini said in comments reported by the ANSA news agency. "It is clear that Italy must finish the job started with NATO and make a greater contribution if it is needed," he said. Macedonia - not a NATO member - meanwhile confirmed it would send an extra 80 soldiers from February, adding to its 160 troops already there. .... Obama's expected pledge of more soldiers, which emerged from an exhaustive policy review, aims to bolster the drive to repel a resurgent Taliban, secure major cities and fast-track training for Afghan security forces. France's Le Monde daily reported on its Web site Monday that the United States had also asked France to put up another 1,500 troops for the allied mission. The French foreign ministry refused to confirm or deny the report which said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the request on Thursday in a telephone call to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. .... France already has 3,750 soldiers attached to the campaign, 3,400 of them in Afghanistan itself.... =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ============================== --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: arch...@mail-archive.com EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bNM5nn.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: antinato-unsubscr...@topica.com For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER --^----------------------------------------------------------------
