Word: nato
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...military call the "forgotten war"--is on the rise. By late this summer, 32,000 American troops are scheduled to be in Afghanistan, the most in more than six years of combat. Beyond highlighting the resilience of the U.S. military, it also showcases the increasing irrelevance of NATO, which is supposed to be leading the fight. Some key alliance members--France, Germany, Italy and Spain--are refusing to send troops to battle the Taliban or placing "caveats" limiting their deployment to peaceful regions and missions. "Someone needs to read the riot act to NATO," says Anthony Zinni, a retired...
...taking steps to undermine the fledgling state itself by encouraging the partition of Serb-dominated areas in northern Kosovo. Though a new Balkan war seems unlikely, Kosovo's birth is proving messier than its backers expected. And Serbia, which had been edging toward membership of the European Union and NATO, instead faces a degree of international isolation not seen since strongman Slobodan Milosevic was in power. Taken aback by all this anger and acrimony, Goran Svilanovic, a former Foreign Minister now working on regional cooperation, admits: "We didn't see this coming...
...Afghanistan is in a tough spot. The country is reliant on the U.S. and NATO for its security and, at the same time, shares its longest land border with Iran. Afghanistan has long pleaded with the U.S. and Iran not to carry out their longstanding strategic rivalry on its soil. And for several years that request has been largely honored. Iran, a long-time supporter of the Northern Alliance, was instrumental in bringing about the fall of the Taliban. Iran has also helped more than any other neighbor with the reconstruction of the country. Since 2002, Tehran has pumped millions...
...past six months, however, Iran's actions have taken a more sinister turn. U.S. and NATO troops have intercepted shipments of Iranian-made arms in Afghanistan, including mortars, plastic explosives and explosively formed penetrators that have been used to deadly effect against armored vehicles in Iraq. U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood said on January 31, "There is no question that elements of insurgency have received weapons from Iran." The discovery of the first caches of Iranian-made weapons in Afghanistan in April, says a State Department official, "sent shock waves through the system." Iran was doing more than just...
...this leaves Afghanistan caught in the middle. The country needs Iran's help developing its infrastructure in the eastern provinces and has a long-term interest in maintaining friendly relations, but Kabul knows it can't be at the cost of distancing itself from the U.S. and NATO. The last thing Karzai wants is to be forced into making a choice between Iran and the U.S. "Iran has played both a constructive and destructive role in Afghanistan," said ambassador Jawad. By playing it both ways, Iran is trying to back Kabul into a corner. That's not neighborly...