Afghans urge Europeans to share burden with U.S.

By David Brunnstrom
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Afghanistan's defense minister urged European governments Thursday to step up their military and other efforts for his country to share the burden equally with the United States.
"I hope there will be additional support for the mission in Afghanistan," Abdul Rahim Wardak said before a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels that will discuss the struggling international effort against Islamist militancy in Afghanistan.
"The burden should be shared equitably," he said, when asked if he wanted European countries to do more after big increases in the U.S. military and financial commitment to the country.
Wardak said the focus should be on helping Afghans build up their own security forces and said he wanted NATO countries to contribute more to a trust fund set up to finance the training and day-to-day running of the Afghan armed forces.
The fund has currently received only about 24 million euros in contributions and another 221 million euros pledged for running costs of the Afghan security forces -- well short of the $2 billion a year that will be needed.
The United States and its NATO allies are aiming to boost the size of the Afghan army to 134,000 and the Afghan police force to 86,000 by 2010, which will require stepped up training missions and funding.
The project is still short of trainers and NATO hopes ministers will pledge at least 13 more military training teams and deploy paramilitary police trainers promised by EU states.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged European allies on Wednesday to remain engaged even as Washington boosts its troop numbers by more than 30,000 this year.
NO EXCUSE
A senior U.S. official said it was time for European states to deliver on pledges they had made at a NATO summit in April and to be prepared to do more. "There's really no excuse not to be able to participate in this mission," he said.
"The United States will put more troops, it will deploy more trainers, it will have more money in the trust fund, it will increase the civilian surge and it will provide economic assistance," he said.
"If a country cannot offer to send more troops then it ought to send more trainers. A country that can't send more trainers ought to pay more for the trust fund and the country that doesn't have money for the trust ought to pay more for economic assistance or send more diplomats or agricultural specialists."
For years, Washington has urged its allies to contribute more troops, civilian reconstruction experts and aid to the fight against the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
Many have been reluctant, however, to make major new commitments, saying their forces are overstretched and citing public opposition to greater involvement in the war.
NATO spokesman James Appathurai said it was important for the alliance to avoid a perception that Afghanistan was too much of an American operation. Continued...
Source: Reuters