NATO shifts to help an elusive Afghanistan peace

[discocrisco01]

Source: Associated Press

President Barack Obama and NATO allies declared Sunday that the end of the long and unpopular Afghanistan war is in sight even as they struggled to hold their fighting force together in the face of dwindling patience and shaky unity.

From his hometown and the city where his re-election operation hums, Obama spoke of a post-2014 world when “the Afghan war as we understand it is over.’’ Until then, though, remaining U.S. and allied troops face the continued likelihood of fierce combat.

Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, offered a stern warning Sunday that the plan to give Afghan forces the lead in fighting next summer won’t take coalition troops out of harm’s way. “It doesn’t mean that we won’t be fighting,’’ Allen said. “It doesn’t mean that there won’t be combat.’’

The fate of the war is both the center of this summit and a topic no one is celebrating as a mission accomplished. The alliance already has one foot out the Afghanistan door, Obama has his ear attuned to the politics of an economy-driven presidential election year and other allies are pinching pennies in a European debt crisis.

Read more: http://mobile.boston.com/art/35/news/nation/washington/articles/2012/05/20/obama_pushes_for_post_2014_vision_for_afghanistan/?single=1

[Scurrilous]

1. NATO to hand combat role to Afghans as it seeks way out of war

<snip>

"NATO will hand over the lead role in combat operations to Afghan forces across the country by mid-2013, alliance leaders said on Sunday as they charted a path out of a war that has lost public support and strained budgets in Western nations.

A NATO summit in Chicago on Monday will formally endorse a U.S.-backed strategy for a gradual exit from Afghanistan, a move aimed at holding together an allied force scrambling to cope with France's decision to withdraw its troops early.

President Barack Obama and NATO partners want to show their war-weary voters the end is in sight in a conflict that has dragged on for more than a decade while at the same time trying to reassure Afghans that they will not be abandoned."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/21/us-nato-summit-idUSBRE84J02C20120521

[dipsydoodle]

2. Pakistan supply routes row hits Nato summit

A row between the US and Pakistan over supply routes to Afghanistan is threatening to overshadow the summit of Nato leaders in Chicago.

The two sides have been unable to reach agreement on Pakistan's conditions for reopening the routes, closed after a US air strike killed several troops.

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France insists that its troops will return by the end of 2012.

AFP news agency quoted new President Francois Hollande as saying the issue was "non-negotiable because it was a question of French sovereignty"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18141605

[dipsydoodle]

3. NATO to hand combat role to Afghans as it seeks way out of war

(Reuters) - NATO will hand over the lead role in combat operations to Afghan forces across the country by mid-2013, alliance leaders said on Sunday as they charted a path out of a war that has lost public support and strained budgets in Western nations.

A NATO summit in Chicago on Monday will formally endorse a U.S.-backed strategy for a gradual exit from Afghanistan, a move aimed at holding together an allied force scrambling to cope with France's decision to withdraw its troops early.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/21/uk-nato-summit-idUKBRE84J02E20120521