NATO to deploy an additional brigade into ISAF

[McG]

NATO sending new brigade to Afghanistan
Updated Thu. Jan. 25 2007 11:36 PM ET
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO-led troops battling resurgent Taliban militants will soon be reinforced with another combat brigade, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan said Thursday.

Gen. David Richards said the brigade will consist of members of different nations participating in NATO's International Security Assistance Force. A brigade is typically 1,500 to 3,500 troops. Richards did not specify how many reinforcements he expected.

"I anticipate at least another brigade of combat troops from ISAF nations coming here shortly and more after that," Richards told reporters.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, officials would not say what countries planned to send reinforcements, saying such announcements are up to individual nations.

However, several countries plan to boost their contributions in answer to requests for more troops to join the fight against the Taliban in the spring.

Poland is expected to send about 1,200 soldiers in February and British media have reported that Britain is considering deploying 600 extra troops. It was not clear if Richards was referring to those upcoming troop contributions.

In addition, the U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday that 3,200 soldiers from the New York-based 10th Mountain Division already in the country would have their tour extended by four months.

The NATO-led force, which is bracing for renewed fighting with Taliban militants this spring, is about 20 percent short of the troop levels pledged by its contributing nations.

Richards made the comments during the opening of a joint operations center in Kabul that will be manned by officers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO. The three are trying to increase coordination in their counter-insurgency efforts.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated recently, with top officials trading accusations on which side is responsible for the increase in Taliban attacks. Some 4,000 people died in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan last year, according to numbers from Afghan, U.S. and NATO officials.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070125/rice_afghanistan_070125/20070125?hub=World

 

[Blackadder1916]

It would be a good thing if an additional brigade was added to ISAF and was employed in the areas of that country that needed additional troops prepared to take the fight to the enemy.  But subsequent to the report quoted in the opening post, there does not seem to be any great change on the part of NATO members with regards to providing more troops to Afganistan, as noted in this article (quoted below) from the New York Times. 

I had previously seen reports about Gen Richards' announcement about the increase in troop strength, so was surprised at later TV and print articles on the recent NATO meeting that seemed to tell a different story.  It seems to be the usual suspects kicking in.

NATO Allies Wary of Sending More Troops to Afghanistan
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/asia/27afghan.html?ref=asia (the emphasis added is mine)

By HELENE COOPER January 27, 2007 The New York Times

BRUSSELS, Jan. 26 — America’s European allies on Friday remained noncommittal about sending additional troops to Afghanistan, even as the Bush administration sought to inject new energy into the NATO mission against the Taliban by offering more American soldiers and money.

Officially, the language at a NATO meeting here on Friday reflected resolve and commitment toward Afghanistan. NATO “is stepping up its game in Afghanistan on all fronts,” said Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the alliance’s secretary general. “The fact that you saw so many people from the international community sitting around the table is a strong message itself.”

But beyond the sound bites, the realities that have troubled the NATO mission in Afghanistan since the 26-member trans-Atlantic alliance took command last year remained on display. France and Germany continued to limit their combat role; both countries have refused to deploy troops in the south of the country, where Taliban forces are strongest. Germany’s Parliament has yet to approve a proposal to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets to the south.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy is battling allies in his own government who oppose the Afghan mission and want the government to set a deadline for withdrawing the country’s 1,800 troops. While Mr. Prodi’s government passed a measure on Friday to renew financing for Italy’s troops in Afghanistan, it did so without the support of all of Mr. Prodi’s coalition partners, and Italian officials said it was unlikely that Mr. Prodi could rally support for any increase in troops.

The United States sought to lead by example, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who called for the Brussels meeting in the hope of spurring more action from the Europeans, told the assembled ministers that President Bush would ask Congress for $10.6 billion in additional financial assistance for Afghanistan.

Bush administration officials said on Thursday that the Pentagon would extend the Afghan tours of 3,200 American soldiers. Ms. Rice added that beyond the extension of the tours, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates would further expand the number of American troops, “partly through extra forces.”

“Every one of us must take a hard look at what more we can do to help the Afghan people,” Ms. Rice said, according to a State Department statement. “We need additional forces on the ground — ready to fight. And we need to provide greater support for the development of Afghan institutions, especially its security forces.”

American officials say that Taliban fighters are mounting increasingly brazen cross-border attacks from Pakistan and that they are preparing to resume attacks in the spring, as they have done every year since the American invasion deposed the Taliban in 2001.

“If there is to be a ‘spring offensive,’ it must be our offensive,” she said. “It must be a political campaign, an economic campaign, a diplomatic campaign, and, yes, a military campaign.”

But that military campaign remains about 15 percent short of what American and NATO commanders say they need on the ground to fight the Taliban.

The 3,200 American troops whose departure has been delayed would bring the American force level in Afghanistan to around 24,000. About half of those are part of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, while the other half are engaged in American-led counterterrorism operations. About 20,000 soldiers from other NATO countries are also deployed in Afghanistan.

Britain has the second-largest contingent of soldiers in Afghanistan, with 6,000 troops.

NATO said Friday that an alliance airstrike destroyed a Taliban command post in southern Afghanistan, killing a man suspected of being a senior militant leader. Also on Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the offices of an aid group in Helmand Province, wounding a policeman and two others.

American and NATO officials are now pinning their hopes for troop increases on a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Seville, Spain, next month. Mr. de Hoop Scheffer, the NATO secretary general, said he was “relatively optimistic” that more troops would be forthcoming.

“Everybody understands that it’s vital that we achieve our goals this year,” said Richard A. Boucher, the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs.

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

The vast majority of the new troops are American...  Are we shocked?

 

[geo]

Hmmm... aren't the new troops, the troops of the 10th Mountain .... who were already in Afghanistan & are being kept in indian country for another couple of months?

 

[CrazyCanuck]

...Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates would further expand the number of American troops, “partly through extra forces.”[/quote]

Those would probably be the new ones

 

[geo]

extra forces... yeah - next roto goes in and he keeps the last one in place for some extra month.... = thereby creating a surge +/-

 

[Franko]

Hmmm... aren't the new troops, the troops of the 10th Mountain .... who were already in Afghanistan & are being kept in indian country for another couple of months?

10th M Div have been roto'd in since the begining of operations in Afghanistan.....if they are just upping the numbers, it wouldn't be a "surge" would it?

Regards

 

[geo]

it it a surge.  they have brought in the regularly scheduled roto & delayed the repat of those who have been there for a long time

 

[MarkOttawa]

The US "surge" results from the overlap of the 10th Mountain troops with the 82nd airborne.  It seems the US is still reluctant (Iraq?) to provide an ongoing increase in the troop level.

More US troops for Afghanistan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/26/wafghan26.xml

The 3,500-strong 10th Mountain Division, currently deployed along the eastern border with Pakistan, is to have its tour of duty extended by four months.

The unit, on its third tour of the country since 2001, was due to have been replaced next month by men from the 82nd Airborne division, who will still be deployed [emphasis added]...

US Says Troop Coordination Critical to NATO, Afghanistan Mission
http://origin.www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-26-voa80.cfm

A top US State Department official warned Friday that NATO's future may hinge on alliance members dropping conditions they have placed on their troops' service in Afghanistan. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns says the so-called "caveats" on what various contingents may do in that country are an "existential" issue for NATO...

[US Defense Secretary]Gates said if things go as anticipated, it will not be necessary to further extend [emphasis added] the tours of U.S. troops.

He has said in recent days that he would be receptive to increasing the overall U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan if that is the recommendation of field commanders.

But as noted above...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/26/news/afghan.php

...[Secretary of State] Rice added that in addition to extending the tours, Defense Secretary Robert Gates would expand the number of U.S. troops, "partly through extra forces [emphasis added]."..

Things a bit fuzzy.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

They are playing a numbers game. Their troop availability has to be hurting something big by now, and that's with using a 1 year rotation.