General Urges NATO to Send Afghanistan More Troops
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
NY Times
Published: January 28, 2004

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 — NATO's top commander in Europe voiced frustration on Tuesday that members were not providing enough troops for the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, which he said was a "defining moment" for the alliance as it adopted a broader agenda in the world. In testimony intended to bring members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee up to date on Afghanistan, the commander, Gen. James L. Jones of the United States Marine Corps, said NATO's plans to expand beyond the capital, Kabul, and the northern area of Kunduz would require more troops than the current 5,500.

He said he expected the number of United States troops in Afghanistan — 11,000, most of them involved in counterterrorism — to remain the same. "The political will has been stated," he said. "The alliance has agreed, the donor countries have been identified, and yet we find ourselves mired in the administrative details of who's going to pay for it, who's going to transport it, how's it going to be maintained."

The rebuilding of Afghanistan after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001 involves NATO's first mission beyond the European Atlantic area. Unlike the war on Iraq, this effort has been embraced by NATO's European members. The alliance's new secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, has called Afghanistan its "No. 1 priority." During the testimony, senators from both parties expressed concern that the Bush administration might become distracted with Iraq and fail to solidify the gains made in Afghanistan in health care, education, women's rights and road building.

"Are we winning or losing?" asked Senator Richard G. Lugar, an Indiana Republican and the committee chairman. "Why should we have confidence this is going to work out?" Security has not been established in huge swaths of the country, and the Taliban are resurgent along the Pakistan border. President Hamid Karzai is still trying to wrest control from provincial governors. Congress approved a total of $1.6 billion in aid for Afghanistan in 2004. President Bush is expected to ask for $1 billion more in his 2005 budget request next week.