NATO Foreign Ministers OK new Afghan Plan

This is from the Edmonton Sun. France may help Canada. The mission is very unpopular in France. In fact it is unpopular almost everywhere in Europe with countries involved. However, this does not preventg Sarkozy and Harper from following through with the mission. Supporting the troops seems to mean calling them a hero every time one gets killed or maimed by an IED. Getting the troops out of there so this can't happen is not supporting the troops.



March 6, 2008

NATO foreign ministers OK new Afghan plan Canada confident help is on the way



OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier emerged from a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Belgium on Thursday more confident that Canada will get the help it needs in southern Afghanistan.

He said in a phone interview from Brussels he walked other ministers through the Manley commission report, which recommended Canada extend its deployment in Kandahar to 2011, as long as alliance members sent 1,000 more troops to the south.

Bernier called it a “constructive dialogue.”

The foreign ministers have signed off on a comprehensive Afghanistan strategy — a proposal that’s expected to get final approval next month at a summit meeting in Romania.

“Our discussions today will help prepare the ground for the major meeting we will have in Bucharest, where heads of state and government will approve a political-military plan which will guide our operation in Afghanistan for the coming years, as part of a stepped-up, comprehensive, international effort,” said NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Alliance officials did not detail the strategy, other than to say it will balance the needs of countries which have asked for more help in fighting the Taliban with demands from other members who say the mission is more about reconstruction.

Bernier held separate meetings with the foreign affairs ministers of both Belgium and France.

He received an update on France’s proposal to increase its combat presence in the war-torn country.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told him that no decision has been made on whether French troops are going to eastern or southern Afghanistan.

A senior Canadian official says Bernier was given — in a very short meeting — a glimpse at how deliberations among French officials are proceeding.

A final decision, which is expected to be announced at the Bucharest summit, will be made by President Nicolas Sarkozy, Kouchner said.

In a separate bilateral meeting, the Belgians were thanked for deploying four Mirage jet fighters to Afghanistan to support ground troops.

“I emphasized that all NATO members need to do what is required to succeed in Afghanistan,” Bernier said following the meeting.

“This includes ensuring (the NATO force) has the necessary resources and is using those resources in the most effective way possible.”

Alliance military planners say a deployment of French troops to eastern Afghanistan could still benefit the Canadians because it would free forces already there to move to Kandahar.