McCain: Afghanistan Needs NATO Troops

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, right, member of the U.S Senate Armed Services Committee, speaks during a press conference as U.S Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, second from right, U.S Sen. John Thune, R-S.D, third from right, and Illinois Republican Representative Mark Kirk look on at the U.S. base Camp Eggers in Kabul., Afghanistan on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006. Washington will send more troops to Afghanistan "if it's necessary," U.S. Senator John McCain said Saturday, while urging European allies to send their troops to the country's restive south. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) (Rodrigo Abd - AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Sen. John McCain on Saturday urged the United States' reluctant NATO partners to allow their troops to engage in combat operations against the resurgent Taliban, especially in Afghanistan's rebellious south.

The Arizona Republican, a likely contender in the 2008 presidential race, also criticized Pakistan for tolerating sanctuaries for Taliban fighters and other Islamic militants in tribal regions along its borders with Afghanistan.

Taliban officials say they use these tribal areas for recruiting, training and staging cross-border raids. "The Taliban remains a very big threat, and we have a long way go to before they are eradicated," McCain said.

McCain told reporters at a U.S. base in Kabul, the Afghan capital, that the U.S. would commit more troops to Afghanistan if needed. "But the focus here is more on training the Afghan National Army and the police, as opposed to the increased U.S. troop presence," he said.

A report from the Iraq Study Group said the U.S. should provide increased military support for Afghanistan. Some analysts say, however, that the U.S. military is already overstretched at a time when it's preparing to dispatch thousands of more troops to Iraq to quell the daily violence there.

Afghan, U.S., Canadian, British and Dutch forces have done most of the fighting in Afghanistan over the past year, McCain said, at a time when ambushes, suicide bombings and other attacks have multiplied. Those nations have also borne the brunt of the casualties.

In the latest violence, a roadside blast killed one NATO soldier and wounded two others Friday in eastern Laghman province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. The nationalities of the casualties were not released.

Several NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan _ including Germany, France, Spain and Italy _ restrict the use of their forces to relatively peaceful areas of the north.

That, McCain said, makes it "extremely difficult for our NATO commanders to call on them for assistance when needed in combat zones."

He also pressed European leaders to increase their efforts to stem the flood of heroin out of Afghanistan, which he warned could become "Europe's Colombia."

McCain joined others in criticizing a controversial peace pact between Pakistan's government and Islamic militants in the North Waziristan province bordering Afghanistan. The International Crisis Group think tank said the agreement has created a virtual Taliban mini-state where mullahs dispense justice and fighters launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.

"We don't like it. The attacks from that area have increased, and we think that unless there is some dramatic change, that we will continue to see those increases," McCain said.

The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan have exchanged bitter words in recent months, blaming one another for the continuing threat from the Taliban and al Qaida.

McCain urged the two leaders to put aside their differences.

"They are fighting a common enemy alongside NATO and the United States," he said. "The level of rhetoric needs to be lowered and the level of cooperation needs to be dramatically increased."

McCain arrived in Kabul on Friday with three other Republican legislators. One of them, Rep. Mark Kirk of Illinois, said that while there was much debate over how to proceed in Iraq, there was no question about continuing support for the Afghan government.

While in Afghanistan, the lawmakers inspected military-led reconstruction efforts in rural areas and visited a training center for the Afghan army. They left Saturday afternoon to meet with officials in Pakistan.