http://www.cp.org/english/online/OnlineFullStory.aspx?filename=p022617a&newsitemid=24666021&languageid=1
NATO resolve could be tested in Afghanistan this year: security experts NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD NEW YORK (CP) - A Taliban offensive that's stronger than anticipated could test NATO's resolve in Afghanistan this year, says a new research report released Monday. One of the major challenges for NATO is that while countries like Canada, Britain and the United States are engaged in a war with Taliban insurgents, other allies think of themselves only as peacekeepers, says researchers for the New York-based Center on International Co-operation. The report regards Afghanistan as being among the most frustrating global security operations in 2006, with setbacks outpacing the expansion of NATO forces in the country. NATO is expecting the Taliban to step up attacks once warmer weather arrives in Afghanistan but has expressed confidence in beating the insurgency. The researchers, however, warn of a possible resurgence of Taliban activity that is greater than even what NATO is expecting. "Certainly I think we see every sign that we will face a major resurgence by the Taliban in the south in the spring that is being widely warned of, and I think we see signs that that will be perhaps even stronger than anticipated," Bruce Jones, a senior fellow at CIC and report co-author, told a news briefing. "Statements of long-term commitments from leaders in Canada and the U.K. may be tested by significant casualties," the report warns. The report's publication immediately follows Britain's announcement that it will deploy 1,400 additional troops to Afghanistan, bringing British troop levels to around 7,700. Earlier this month, the U.S. government made available additional troops to maintain a strong presence in the country. Canada has about 2,500 troops in southern Afghanistan as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force - ISAF. Forty-four Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002. Based at New York University, the CIC collects data and conducts research on global security threats and humanitarian crises and acts as a consultant to the United Nations. Its "Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2007" is the second in a series and is funded by the governments of Canada, United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, and Sweden, and with a grant from the Ford Foundation. Afghanistan stands out as a dark spot in the report, with researchers saying the optimistic mood created by parliamentary elections in December 2005 had turned sour. The report says major ISAF campaigns to stamp out the Taliban have not "diminished the vigour of the insurgency." "NATO is learning that it is difficult to mount these operations," Jones said. "And there are of course the issue of national caveats about what troop contributors will and won't do, meaning that the burden is falling rather heavily on countries like Canada and the United States." "I think the real difficulty here for NATO ... is that they are engaged in serious military action, and not all of the NATO contributors contemplated that from the start," Ian Johnstone, senior fellow at the centre, told the briefing. Richard Gowan, program co-ordinator for the study, concurs. "In Afghanistan, Germany and Italy are holding to a fairly traditional concept of peace operations, whereas Canada and Britain are essentially moving to something which is counterinsurgency-war fighting," he said in an interview. Restrictions placed by countries on where their troops can deploy and what they can do are proving a serious obstacle to NATO's mission, the report says. Italy and Germany restrict their forces to the relatively safe regions in the north and to Kabul, while Canada, the United States and Britain are leading efforts in the much more volatile south and on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. The U.S. and Canadian governments have been urging NATO allies to remove the restrictions and contribute more to the ISAF campaign. But thus far, their call has fallen largely on deaf ears, aside from new commitments by Britain and Poland. Elsewhere, the report gives a positive assessment of the ability of UN peacekeeping operations to adapt and sustain themselves despite earlier concerns of overstretch and ongoing security challenges. Global peacekeeping operations are at their highest levels ever, it says. At the end of 2006, the UN commanded 80,368 troops, police and military observers, an increase of more than 10,000 over 2005 and breaking the previous record of 77,000 deployed during the height of the Balkans crisis. This increase was largely led by the expansion in the number of blue helmets deployed to Lebanon in 2006. But UN successes, such as the recent elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and noticeable progress in places such as Haiti and Liberia, stood in contrast to the continued failure to move into the Darfur region due to resistance by the government in Khartoum. +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Something is new at Yahoo! Groups. Check out the enhanced email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/kOt0.A/gOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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