NATO Chief Declares Alliance ‘Fully Committed’ to US War in Afghan

Germany Not Interested in Sending More Troops

Jason Ditz 

Posted onAugust 22, 2017CategoriesNewsTagsAfghanistan, NATO

In President Trump’s Monday speech on his escalation of the Afghan War, he made clear he was planning to press NATO allies to provide additional troops and funding for the conflict. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has issued a statement endorsing the idea, and insisting the alliance fully commuted to the conflict.

NATO has some 12,000 troops in Afghanistan. It’s not clear how many the US is going to request, and the US has insisted they haven’t decided on the size of their own escalation. Despite Stoltenberg’s claim of full commitment, not everyone in NATO seems eager to send more.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen pointed out Germany had already set more troops to Afghanistan last year, even as most of the alliance was cutting its figures. She said she doesn’t see Germany needing to be “in the front row of people who should be asked for more soldiers.”

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon appeared more upbeat about the idea, saying they consider the US commitment “very welcome.” He did not, however, say that the British government was open to sending more ground troops.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/08/22/nato-chief-declares-alliance-fully-committed-to-us-war-in-afghan/