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US Vice President Joe Biden appealed to NATO allies on Tuesday (10 March) to help the United States tackle worsening security in Afghanistan, saying the alliance was struggling to deal with a threat to the West as a whole.
US-led forces drove the Taliban from power in Kabul in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks on US targets, which were planned by Osama bin Laden from bases in Afghanistan.
There are currently some 70,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, of which the United States supplies 38,000.
Western powers are concerned not only by the Taliban's advances in Afghanistan but also by its influence in Pakistan, where Islamic militants have disrupted NATO's supply convoys to Afghanistan and are securing concessions from the government in Islamabad.
On 17 February, US President Barack Obama authorised sending an additional 17,000 US soldiers to Afghanistan, including more than 12,000 combat forces, to counter an increasingly fierce Taliban insurgency. US officials have long been frustrated by European reluctance to make new long-term troop commitments to the Afghan mission.
Recently, the EU decided to engage more in Afghanistan by wielding 'soft power' of "better quality and quantity," like providing assistance for presidential elections due on 20 August, for civilian programmes and for nation-building (EurActiv 23/02/09).
"The deteriorating situation in the region poses a security threat not just to the United States, but to every single nation round this table," Biden told representatives of the 26-country military pact during a visit to Brussels.
"We are not now winning the war, but the war is far from lost," he told a news conference after three hours of talks.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called on NATO to boost efforts before Afghan elections due in August. "It is important that this alliance delivers in the short-term," he told the same news conference.
Biden said US President Barack Obama wanted to consult with allies on a strategy review, adding that Washington would "expect everyone to keep whatever commitments were made in arriving at that joint strategy". However, a US official said the trip was not designed to push for more troop pledges.
A senior US administration official said European nations could offer non-military assistance including training of the still weak Afghan police force.
The EU runs a programme for training Afghan police, but has failed so far to meet a promise made last year to double the number of trainers.
Netherlands to host conference on Afghanistan
Meanwhile, the Dutch government announced yesterday that the Netherlands will host a one-day UN conference on the future of Afghanistan in The Hague on 31 March.
It said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would likely chair the meeting, proposed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to Europe last week, and it would include NATO members and Pakistan.
The Dutch foreign ministry, which made the announcement, said Iran would be invited, as would countries that contributed forces to the military operation in Afghanistan, aid donors and international organisations.
(EurActiv with Reuters)
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