NATO Allies Bristle at Criticisms From Gates

"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency; they were trained for the Fulda Gap," Gates said, a reference to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was considered most likely during the Cold War.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer defended his troops, telling reporters at alliance headquarters, "All the countries that are in the south do an excellent job."

Dutch, Canadian, British, Australian and U.S. forces are conducting most of the military operations in southern Afghanistan, long the Taliban's stronghold. Rugged Uruzgan province, where many of the allied troops are based, is the home territory of the Taliban's one-eyed leader, Mohammad Omar.

The parliaments of the European countries with troops in the south had approved the deployments on the assumption that their forces would be involved primarily in nation-building projects to help Afghanistan recover from war. Instead, they have encountered some of the toughest combat in the entire Afghan theater.

Italy, Germany and many other allies refuse to allow their troops to be deployed in the treacherous southern region.

NATO officials said they were particularly galled by Gates saying: "Our guys in the east are doing a terrific job. They've got the [counterinsurgency] thing down pat. But I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with."

"Our troops, men and women, are well prepared for the mission," Col. Nico Geerts, the Dutch field commander in Uruzgan province, said, according to the Associated Press. "Everyone in the south, the British, the Canadians, the Romanians and our other allies, are working hard here. . . . I wouldn't know what the secretary of defense of America is basing this on."

Tyson reported from the Pentagon. Staff writers Glenn Kessler and Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.