Word: afghanistans
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...German Chancellor Angela Merkel is thought to be mulling reinforcements to Germany's current deployment of 4,365, but she will wait until after an international conference on Afghanistan, set for late January in London, before announcing more resources. "The timeline is diminishing. European support will last for a year, maybe two," says Greg Austin, vice president of program development and rapid response at the EastWest Institute. "But in the long term, it is not sustainable for the U.S. and its NATO allies to bear the burden. There has to be a more hard-nosed diplomacy to mobilize neighboring countries...
...Europe has also been vocal in its frustrations over rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. A report prepared for E.U. governments in October said the current nation-building efforts have been too slow, with political reform and clean government almost nonexistent in spite of eight years of U.S. and European assistance. "The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating," the report said...
...Even the E.U.'s reconstruction efforts have fallen short. Europe has committed $12 billion in aid to Afghanistan over the past eight years to help projects like rural development, governance, health, mine removal and human rights. But it is still struggling to deliver the 400 police trainers it committed to deliver years ago. "More troops are not the solution. The highest priority is not military, but civil development," says Thijs Berman, a Dutch member in the European Parliament and head of its Afghanistan delegation. He says the best way the international community can help is to fight corruption...
...officials will get to hear European concerns over the next few days in a series of key meetings on Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton will be in Brussels to secure commitments from governments at a meeting of Foreign Ministers on Thursday and Friday. Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan was in Brussels Wednesday to meet key E.U. officials. And military officers will also meet in the southern Belgian town of Mons on Dec. 7 to discuss the mission's resources. They should all lower expectations about how much Europe is willing to contribute...
...long-awaited strategy speech for Afghanistan, President Barack Obama clearly and forcibly repeated his objectives from his original plan in March - denying al-Qaeda a safe haven and reversing Taliban momentum. But he added one detail that stunned many Afghans. All this would be achieved within 18 months, at which point, it is assumed, the Afghan government would be able to stand on its own and the Afghan security forces - who are a far cry from the disciplined rows of uniformed cadets who faced Obama on Tuesday evening - would be able to take on the job of securing the battle...