Word: afghanistan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Germany, whose 4,300 troops make it the third-largest contingent in the alliance, is going to sit on its decision until an international conference on Afghanistan takes place in London this January. Their public and politicians have been preoccupied since September with accusations that a government minister tried to cover up Germany’s role in calling in an air strike that resulted in the deaths of somewhere between 30 and 70 civilians. Paris also seems to be postponing a decision until next month...
...also leaning on them to commit 10,000 more troops to what is effectively our third surge in Afghanistan over the last two years. (In January 2008, only 26,000 American troops were there. By the time this surge has been deployed, we will total...
...hard to know if countries will meet these goals. Yesterday, European NATO ministers met in Brussels to discuss the surge and whether they can be counted on to add to the 42,000 NATO troops already in Afghanistan. Rome is reportedly ready to commit 1,000 more troops in addition to the 2,750 that already there, the largest increase pledged since Obama announced the surge. Gordon Brown pledged another 500 to bring the British tally up to 9,500, the biggest commitment after America’s. Warsaw will increase its contingent from...
...drama between Democrats and Republicans. In this sense, they are merely spectators of American politics and say little that really implicates them. The Financial Times emphasized the political risk that the surge represents for the commander-in-chief with the headline, “Obama gambles his presidency on Afghanistan,” as did Le Monde, both in its news coverage and in an editorial titled...
Europeans have a more nuanced view. Le Monde and Le Figaro—the center right, more pro-business French paper—both seemed skeptical of the claim that winning in Afghanistan is vital to American interests and highlighted the inherent contradictions of a strategy that seeks to placate Democrats and Republicans but pleases neither...