Gates Hits NATO Allies' Role in Afghanistan

Secretary Robert Gates says European forces are unwilling to risk casualties. (By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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In another sign of allies' reservations, the Canadian government is debating whether to shift its mission to training and mentoring, a move McNeill opposes. "My first choice is to have them stay in the fight," he said. In an earlier news conference, McNeill described troop levels in Afghanistan as "a minimalist force."

Canada's government announced last week that it would continue its combat mission past January 2009 only if another NATO partner deploys an additional 1,000 combat troops to the southern province of Kandahar, where Canada's 2,500 troops are based.

Gates said yesterday that his decision to send 3,200 Marines into Afghanistan this spring stems in part from the shortfalls by NATO partners. Although he praised the Canadians, British, Australians, Dutch and Danes for "doing their part," Gates told the committee that he has written all NATO defense ministers asking them to "dig deeper" to solve the problems in Afghanistan.

Daniel Korski, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said it will be hard for the United States to squeeze more troops out of NATO allies. "It's becoming increasingly difficult for governments to explain this is no longer a peacekeeping operation, this is counterinsurgency and combat, and that's far more dangerous," Korski said.

McNeill said he has also faced pressure from Afghan President Hamid Karzai to curtail operations in some provinces, particularly after civilian casualties. McNeill said he and Karzai have "intensive dialogues about not only where and why we run particular operations but how we intend to run them."

Karzai's government has also opposed U.S. proposals for more aggressive eradication of opium crops. Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's opium, and McNeill estimated the crop finances up to 40 percent of Taliban operations. McNeill said he was pushing the NATO mandate as far as possible to allow his forces to target the "nexus" between opium and insurgents.

Regional interference, including weapons from Iran and fighters from Pakistan, are another challenge for McNeill. But he noted unusual progress made during a three-hour New Year's Eve meeting with the new head of Pakistan's Army, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, and the head of the Afghan military, who agreed to share intelligence on insurgent activity and conduct officer exchanges.

Also yesterday, when pressed by senators, Gates estimated that the Pentagon will need at least $170 billion to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars during fiscal 2009. The president's budget announcement Monday included a separate $70 billion war-funding request for the first quarter of 2009 but did not estimate costs that would stretch into the next president's administration.

Staff writers Karen DeYoung and John Ward Anderson in Paris and special correspondent Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.