Talk about spinning for some of our allies in Afstan

Scott Taylor is truly being economical with the truth:

...Step forward, NATO slackers.

That’s right: As Canada "punches above its weight" in Kandahar, we are not achieving complete success because other NATO countries are failing to do their bit for the alliance. The latest rallying cry of the Canadian tub-thumpers is that Afghanistan is NATO’s Waterloo and that if our partners don’t step up to the plate to win, we should consider cutting short our own commitment.

Two of the most maligned NATO countries accused of shirking their martial responsibilities are France and Germany. What is ironic about Canadians criticizing these particular allies is that as well as contributing significant contingents to Afghanistan (50 per cent more than Canada, in Germany’s case), they are both still heavily engaged in providing security forces in Bosnia and Kosovo [now that's a rich verbal twist: "security forces", implying something like the CF at Kanadahar when in fact the forces in the Balkans are doing traditional peacekeeping without combat--though the clouds are darkening - MC].

While Canada has rushed from flavour-of-the-month conflicts over the past decade, many of our NATO allies have been left manning the less newsworthy but still simmering hot spots.

Canada has chosen to place its military eggs into the one Afghan basket, but we should not be so quick to point fingers and denigrate those countries whose ongoing commitments elsewhere allow us the dubious luxury of being in the front-line spotlight [what tosh, Mr Taylor: those commitments elsewhere in no way preclude those countries from giving their troops a "front-line" role in Afstan].

(staylor@herald.ca)

Scott Taylor is editor-in-chief of the military magazine Esprit De Corps.

Mr Taylor should stop making disingenuous excuses and listen to the Danish prime minister; the meaning behind some of his diplomatic phrasing is clear:

Denmark's prime minister on Monday urged other NATO nations to send more troops and money to boost the alliance's operations in Afghanistan.

NATO has some 41,000 troops in Afghanistan, but commanders complain the mission lacks helicopters, mobile units and instructors to train the Afghan army. The alliance also needs more quick-maneuver units to take control of territory won from the Taliban [emphasis added--i.e. combat troops].

"I urge all our partners in NATO to reconsider their contributions to the Afghan mission," Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters. "I think we need not only more troops, but also more solidarity in the NATO alliance [emphasis added--i.e. get rid of those caveats]."

If alliance members cannot contribute with more soldiers, "it might be possible to provide NATO with funds to finance the operation in Afghanistan," he said.

In September, Denmark increased its contingent in the NATO force in Afghanistan from 440 to some 600 troops. The bulk of the Danes are based in the volatile Helmand province, the scene of some of the heaviest recent fighting.

"The security situation in the southern part of Afghanistan is definitely not satisfactory [emphasis added--"security" here is clearly in context of needing combat-authorized troops]," Fogh Rasmussen said.

Seven Danish troops have been killed in Afghanistan.