Afghanistan commitments

The United States was "doing its part," while "Europe and Germany can and should do more" for peace and security in Afghanistan, Ivo Daalder, the US NATO envoy, said at a conference on trans-Atlantic relations in Berlin on Wednesday.

"Additional troops (sent to Afghanistan to provide security during the upcoming presidential ballot) must stay after the elections," Daalder added.

US President Barack Obama has been upping the pressure on Germany and its other NATO allies to ante up for an extended fight against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan with the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF).

Washington estimates that $17 billion (12.1 billion euros) are needed to train and equip the Afghan army and two billion dollars per year to sustain it, Daadler said.

Europe needs more convincing

The German government's special envoy to Afghanistan, Bernd Muetzelburg, acknowledged Wednesday that Europe had a bigger role to play, but said that financial constraints made this a difficult issue.

"Obviously, the Europeans will have to do more, but in this financial crisis it is not going to be easy," he said.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 international troops are to join the 60,000-strong NATO-led military force in Afghanistan for the Aug. 20 elections. Germany currently maintains about 3,600 troops in the country, who are involved in reconstruction and policing work, rather than active combat duties.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told Germany's N24 television network on Tuesday that he expected German troops to remain in Afghanistan for the next "five to 10 years."

US piling on the pressure

Outgoing NATO commander, General John Craddock, on Tuesday had even harsher words, singling out Europe's restricted engagement in Afghanistan as hindering success there.

Craddock said in an interview, published Wednesday in the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung, that European leaders were guilty of "hiding behind opinion polls" and using them to avoid further commitments to the war.

"The job of these leaders is to find the best options possible for the people," he said. "If their citizens don't understand or believe this, then more work should be done to convince them."

He said European governments needed to take a greater share of responsibility for security in Afghanistan and stop using the lack of consensus as an excuse.

"The fact is that of all the 28 NATO member states there will always be some that will find excuses for idleness," he told the paper.

Craddock made his comments in Stuttgart at a ceremony where he formally handed over his post as head of the US European Command (EUCOM) to Admiral James Stavridis.

For his part, Stavridis said he thought the Taliban could be pacified with renewed commitment from NATO allies. He said he was "very much interested in finding additional and alternative ways the allies can contribute (to the war effort."

The German parliament votes on Thursday on whether or not to allow the use of German AWACs surveillance aircraft and crews in Afghanistan, which would entail sending up to 300 more troops to the country.

gb/dpa/AFP

Editor: Sean Sinico