Baby steps for NATO on Afstan

This week's meeting of defence ministers has produced indications of small, additional troop commitments to help the Dutch in Uruzgan:

NATO allies rallied yesterday with pledges to assist Dutch troops in war-torn southern Afghanistan in a move widely interpreted as a dose of political courage as the Netherlands approaches a crucial parliamentary debate on its role in the international mission.

Dutch media reports last night named France, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech republic as either confirmed, or in the process of confirming modest military deployments to Uruzgan, where 1,700 Dutch soldiers are locked in the thick of fighting one province away from the Canadians in Kandahar.

De Volkskrant newspaper said the French commitment, though initially not expected to exceed more than a few dozen military trainers, was especially important for the Netherlands as public pressure mounts for a withdrawal of troops.

The promises, discussed during a closed-door meeting of NATO defence ministers at the Dutch seaside resort of Noordvijk, included pledges from five other nations to send more military personnel to Afghanistan. But the cumulative numbers are expected to fall far short of the battalion-sized increases sought by U.S. officials...

Dutch military analysts told the Toronto Star that beneath the façade of high tension, the Netherlands is quietly cobbling a pragmatic solution, including symbolic support from other allies, which will enable a one-year extension of the Dutch mandate in Uruzgan...

Pretty small beer but, I'm confident, enough for the Dutch to extend their mission. If Canada can also get help at Kandahar that will make it simpler for our government to extend our own mission (though doubtless with a reduced combat role--my analysis ishere).

Sadly, as far as I can see, the story above was not carried in the NY Times, Washington Post or LA Times; two solitudes, or something. This is a story that I don't think you'll see in our media, more solitudes:

Dutch troops launch offensive against Taliban in southern Afghanistan

This story also gives some more detail about the NATO meeting:

On Wednesday diplomats said nine nations had pledged more troops to bolster the 41,000-strong NATO force. The offers ranged from 20 to 200 troops from countries including Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and non-NATO members Georgia and Croatia. Officials said it could add around 1,000 extra troops in total.

Germany offered about 100 instructors and France 50, but there was no sign those nations, along with Italy, Spain and Turkey, were dropping a refusal to send combat forces to the battlefields in the south and the east.

The CDS is asking for rather more (where's the minister?):

...General Rick Hillier was asked about this week's NATO decision to rent helicopters flown by civilians [maybe from a Canadian company?] for use in southern Afghanistan, and why no military aircraft could be found to do the job.

Gen. Hillier said there were helicopters available in European countries, and called on his European counterparts to provide more equipment and troops on the ground...

Gen. Hillier specifically listed three things on his European wish-list: helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and ground troops. He said he has spoken regularly to his European counterparts about the issue, and pointed to some positive steps taken by countries such as Portugal, which recently sent a company of troops to the dangerous Panjwai district west of Kandahar city emphasis added]...

Here's a view that will find little acceptance in Germany (or most of quasi-pacifist Western Europe):

Time for the Bundesmacht

See the table at the bottom of this link for a list of country troop contributions to ISAF (the Canadian total is considerably less than the standard 2,500 figure because quite a few of our personnel committed to the mission are not included, e.g. "National Support elements").

Update: More good stuff from the Danes:

Denmark is in the process of ramping up its own force in Helmand to almost 700 from just under 400 and is adding four Leopard 2 tanks, inspired in part by Canada's successful use of tanks in neighbouring Kandahar...