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Ex-envoy urges European troops to work together

By Leander Schaerlaeckens
January 25, 2008

Gates

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BRUSSELS — In order to have any chance of winning the war in Afghanistan, NATO's European member states will have to remove caveats on how and where their troops can fight and work together more closely, according to a former British diplomat who oversaw reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In return, the United States should radically alter its strategy and engage insurgents instead of fighting them, says Daniel Korski, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, in a new report.

"European governments should agree to lift operational restrictions on existing deployments and move troops to the now quieter east, allowing the U.S. to transfer forces to the south in aid of the British, Canadians and Dutch," said Mr. Korski, who also advised the Afghan government on the fight against narcotics.

The report also argued that the European delegations haven't consolidated their strategies and are undermining one another with irreconcilable policies.

The caveats, which range from preventing troops from fighting at night to staying within a certain area under all circumstances, have recently come under fire because they allow countries to take part in, and get credit for, operations while leaving the burden of risk to others.

The British, Canadians and Dutch, who have taken the brunt of the heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan, have urged other countries in the alliance to drop the caveats and assist them but to no avail.

Gen. Klaus Naumann of Germany, who is chairman of NATO's military committee, told the Guardian newspaper that the caveats were undermining NATO and threatening his country's reputation as a reliable military partner.

Mr. Korski's report stressed that some of the alliance's European members are doing a minimalist job and are failing to coordinate adequately, which has severely hampered progress.

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