Gates details role for additional Afghan forces

[unhappycamper]

Gates details role for additional Afghan forces
By Anne Gearan - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 21, 2008 6:07:51 EST

CORNWALLIS, Canada — With the United States reevaluating strategy in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is telling allies that additional U.S. forces planned for the war must be shared across the region taking the brunt of the fighting.

The United States plans fresh brigades in the region early next year, and defense ministers from Canada, Britain, Australia and four other nations with troops in southern Afghanistan want to hear from Gates how the new forces will be used.

“The big 800-pound gorilla in the room will be this subject of troop commitments from the Americans,” Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said ahead of a strategy session at a converted Canadian military station.

MacKay said he wants to know more specifics, such as how many troops will be sent to the volatile Kandahar province. That, he said, “will be telling as far as our future success there.”

Critics of the management of the Afghan war frequently point to the way NATO and the United States have carved up jurisdiction for the war — one country working in one province, another next door, myriad development plans that sometimes conflict with military objectives and an overall lack of coherent planning.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_gatesafghanistan_112108/%2e