Afstan: Gates/Canadians/Brits/French

1) The US defense secretary is a lot less cagey (see middle of this post):

Gates May Be Open To Troop Increase
Meanwhile, Army Says It Will Extend Some Afghan Tours

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates indicated Thursday that he is open to increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, voicing a shift in his position as the administration ponders a military assessment expected to lead to a formal request for additional forces.

Gates, in a briefing at the Pentagon, also defended the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, rebutting suggestions that it is time to pull out. His remarks came just hours before the Army announced that it will extend the tours of about 3,000 soldiers in Afghanistan for between two weeks and two months amid an intensifying Taliban insurgency.

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Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, submitted a key assessment of the war this week. Gates said the assessment, which President Obama and top military officers are reviewing, had altered his long-standing concern about creating an oversized U.S. "footprint" in Afghanistan.

"I take seriously General McChrystal's point that the size . . . of the footprint depends . . . in significant measure . . . on the nature of the footprint and the behavior of those troops and their attitudes and their interactions with the Afghans," Gates said.

"If they interact with the Afghans in a way that gives confidence to the Afghans that we're their partners and their allies, then the risks that I have been concerned about about the footprint becoming too big . . . is mitigated." In particular, Gates cited efforts by McChrystal to distribute U.S. troops to better protect the population and reduce civilian casualties.

Gates also rebuffed as "unrealistic" arguments that the administration should narrow the mission to one of counterterrorism in Afghanistan and along the Pakistani border [see start of this post]. Instead, he said that uprooting terrorist groups requires a more holistic campaign to shore up internal security -- the type of effort McChrystal and other top U.S. military leaders envision...

[Adm.] Mike Mullen [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] has emphasized that he directed McChrystal to scrutinize the U.S. force in Afghanistan and send home any service members, such as support troops, who may not be vital to the war effort. Some Pentagon officials have said that McChrystal is seeking such reductions -- which could number in the thousands -- to offset an increase in combat forces, but Mullen told The Washington Post in an interview last week that he did not expect any large "windfall" in the form of troop reductions.

On Thursday, the Army announced that it is extending the tours of two units in Afghanistan to maintain continuity of the force there and allow follow-on units more time to prepare. The headquarters of the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., with a few hundred soldiers, will be extended for 50 days, the Army said, while the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade based at Fort Stewart, Ga., with about 2,700 soldiers, will remain for an additional two weeks [more details here, the Combat Aviation Brigade at Kandahar is the 82nd].

An Army statement suggested that the extension is intended to advance a plan by McChrystal to take advantage of the expertise in Afghanistan of units such as the 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division, which have both deployed there frequently. The goal is to maximize the continuity and experience of military units serving in Afghanistan [more on continuity here], Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, the Army's operations chief, said in a statement...

2) Meanwhile the Canadian embassy in Washingon, D.C., is trying to make Americans aware of our combat role in Afstan. Odd they would do that when our combat mission is supposed to end in around two years:

Canada to stage mock Afghan attack in Washington
‘If this works the way I want it to, more Americans will know what Canada is doing in Afghanistan'

The Canadian embassy in Washington plans to build a faux Afghan village in the embassy courtyard, populated by Afghan actors, and set of fake IEDs, in an effort to show American opinion makers theyêre doing all they can to win the war in Afghanistan.

...
A clutch of top American generals, powerful Capitol Hill players and Afghan experts from both sides of the border are expected at the two-day conference hosted by the embassy...

The mock village, complete with a small souk and peopled by nearly a dozen Afghan actors, will be created in the courtyard of the Canadian embassy, halfway between the Capitol and the White House. A handful of Canadian soldiers and, Col. Martin hopes, U.S. Marines will arrive to “see the village leader” just as the IED blows up, “critically injuring” at least one Afghan, who will get immediate first aid from a Canadian medic.

“It should provide the full flavour of hyper-realistic training,” said Col. Martin, adding: “Absolutely, you are going to hear it out on Pennsylvania Avenue.”..

3) Whilst in Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown explains their mission in terms of national security, something rarely done by our government:

Afghanistan campaign 'crucial' to protect Britain, says Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown has said for the sake of Britain's security the country "cannot walk away" from Afghanistan.
...
In a keynote speech in London, that robustly defended the bloody struggle after the sudden resignation of Government aide, the Prime Minister said the campaign that has cost 212 British lives was crucial to protect civilians in this country.

He has also promised to quicken the “slow” rate of training Afghan forces in order to quicken Britain’s departure from the country...

While the Prime Minister did not announce any further increase on the 9,000 British troops, he did suggest that within a year a third of the force will be committed to training the Afghan army to build up a corps of 10,000 local soldiers...

He...also announced another 20 of the robust Ridgback patrol vehicles were being purchased.

Tackling criticisms that not enough was being spent on equipment for Helmand he said money spent per year to support each soldier had doubled from £180,000 to £390,000.

“So be in no doubt: we are giving our service men and women the additional resources they need to keep themselves safe, to fight and succeed in their operations.”

Mr Brown said he never took military action lightly. "Each time I have to ask myself if we can justify sending our young men and women to fight for this cause. And my answer has always been yes.

"For when the security of our country is at stake, we cannot walk away.”..

4) The French instead to stick around too, though with a much more, er, Canadian rationale (via Moby Media Updates):

France vows longer stay in Afghanistan

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says foreign militaries will not leave Afghanistan until it is secure enough for agriculture, health and education projects to start.

"We want to bring our decisive support to the Afghan population, with projects linked to agriculture, health, and education," said Kouchner after a Wednesday meeting with international envoys in Paris.

"Of course for that we need to bring security," he told a news conference.

Kouchner ruled out the departure of troops "unless the region is secure enough to benefit from these projects, and from the large amounts of money donated by the international community."..

Plus a German perspective from Spiegel Online concerning the latest NATO airstrike controversy.

Update: A politically-focused, defeatist mindset now becoming all too prevalent, this example British:

Whisper it, we are on our way out of the war
...
We won’t be the first to run, of course. We have left that honour to the Dutch, the Canadians and the Spanish [huh? more here, how ignorant or uninterested--politics aside-- so many pundits are]. Aiming a few derisive hoots in their direction, we British will hang around a bit, take our cue from the United States, and retreat only as and when they do. But in British hearts already, and in our heads as the mood of resignation sets properly in, we are waiting for Washington’s signal...