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Thursday, August 10. 2006
NATO's Increasing Involvement in Afghanistan
Posted by Joerg Wolf in Transatlantic Relations, US Foreign Policy on Thursday, August 10. 2006
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the US led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) have separate mandates and missions. Although ISAF took over the command of Afghanistan's South from OEF, ISAF will continue to focus on its stabilisation and security mission whilst OEF will continue to carry out its counter-terrorism mission. However, the South is still (or again) a dangerous Taliban stronghold...
According to ABC News: The alliance's 8,000-strong NATO deployment in the South includes some U.S. troops and will be under the command of British Lt. Gen. David Richards. Officials said Richards effectively becomes the first non-U.S. general to command American forces in combat operations. (NATO does not yet have all of the planned 8,000 troops in the South.) Australia, Britain, Canada, Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Romania are also contributing troops to the ISAF's Southern Command.
The Bundeswehr is not in the South, but Germany contributes by far the most troops to ISAF in general. The Associated Press graphic on the right is based on NATO sources and counts a total of 10,500 troops as of July 22nd. NATO, however, states: "From 31 July, NATO-ISAF is leading some 18,500 troops from 37 countries in Kabul, the north, west and south of the country and running 13 Provincial Reconstruction Teams. This is NATO’s first and largest ground operation outside Europe."
The US-led OEF coalition retains responsibility for Afghanistan's East. Afghan and coalition forces there conduct regular combat patrols to defeat the Taliban and related movements, and the coalition will also retain its counter-terrorist mission throughout Afghanistan.
According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer (HT: Joe):
According to ABC News: The alliance's 8,000-strong NATO deployment in the South includes some U.S. troops and will be under the command of British Lt. Gen. David Richards. Officials said Richards effectively becomes the first non-U.S. general to command American forces in combat operations. (NATO does not yet have all of the planned 8,000 troops in the South.) Australia, Britain, Canada, Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Romania are also contributing troops to the ISAF's Southern Command.
The Bundeswehr is not in the South, but Germany contributes by far the most troops to ISAF in general. The Associated Press graphic on the right is based on NATO sources and counts a total of 10,500 troops as of July 22nd. NATO, however, states: "From 31 July, NATO-ISAF is leading some 18,500 troops from 37 countries in Kabul, the north, west and south of the country and running 13 Provincial Reconstruction Teams. This is NATO’s first and largest ground operation outside Europe." The US-led OEF coalition retains responsibility for Afghanistan's East. Afghan and coalition forces there conduct regular combat patrols to defeat the Taliban and related movements, and the coalition will also retain its counter-terrorist mission throughout Afghanistan.
According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer (HT: Joe):
The Pentagon announced Wednesday that a combat brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., will deploy to Afghanistan late this year as part of the next rotation of forces. The deployment, to include the 82nd Airborne headquarters staff and various unidentified support units, will total about 11,000 soldiers, the Pentagon said. The announcement gave no indication that this would represent either an increase or a decrease in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, which currently stand at about 22,000. At a Pentagon news conference, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that based on his visit last week to Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan he is optimistic about progress in Afghanistan. Regarding troops levels, Pace said, "The U.S. contribution has stayed stable and will remain stable." Late last year the Pentagon said U.S. troop levels would be reduced by 3,000 this year, but that has not happened, mainly because the Taliban armed resistance has stepped up its attacks, particularly in the volatile southern areas.Those southern areas, however, are now mainly NATO's problem.
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