Ministers attend the informal NATO ministers conference in Vilnius February 7, 2008.
Photo: Reuters
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U.S. Lambasted NATO for Double Standards
The two-day conference of NATO defense ministers opened in Lithuanian capital Vilnius February 7, 2008. On the eve of it, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates explicitly blamed double standards on the NATO allies for refusal to send troops to the dangerous regions of the world, first of all to Afghanistan.
Confrontation was the clear sentiment when the NATO defense chiefs opened their meeting yesterday. On the eve of it, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates lashed out at NATO in the U.S. Congress committee, urging the allies to evenly split responsibility for the military effort in Afghanistan. Gates raised concerns that NATO is turning into a two-tier alliance, where only some allies are ready to fight and die in the battle against Taliban insurgents.
Exactly Afghanistan, where 42,000 troops from 39 states are stationed, was the highlight of the yesterday’s meeting of NATO. The international commanders say some 7,500 military should be sent there in addition to oppose Taliban insurgents.
The United States supplied the better part of the troops and Washington insists that additional military force is to be ensured by other NATO states. But other members of the coalition evidently think different. Germany, for instance, refused to send military to southern provinces of Afghanistan, which is the place of the bloodiest battles and where the death toll of foreign soldiers was the biggest past year.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 08, 2008
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