France, Germany reject US appeals to boost Afghan force

[laststeamtrain]

Source: AFP

France, Germany reject US appeals to boost Afghan force

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

PARIS — France and Germany refused US requests to immediately promise extra combat troops for Afghanistan, frustrating President Barack Obama's hopes that more allies would bolster his troop surge.

Britain has already offered an extra 500 troops and Italy has said it will send an unspecified number, while Poland is considering deploying several hundred more soldiers.

US officials say Obama is about to announce a surge of 30,000 troops and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week predicted other nations would provide another 10,000.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's special envoy to the region said late Tuesday France will not deploy extra combat troops to Afghanistan but may send more military trainers for Afghan forces.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i3idVBYLX7n0hjXmTsYOjL9uuwTQ

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[saigon68]

17. They aren't Crazy

But we have General McCrazy liberator of Afghan-Nam

[Go2Peace]

27. I mentioned this before, having relatives outside the country. They are growing weary of our " adven

adventures. There will be repurcussions of continuing this path.

[Solly Mack]

31. Merkel is waiting until next month to make a final decision

There's an international conference (on Afghanistan) in London

[ixion]

2. Good...

:applause:

Once again, "Old Europe" is acting rationally, why we're the drunken sailor flailing about.

[Joanne98]

3. So we get stuck paying for everything again!

[dflprincess]

10. It's "our" choice to do so

If Obama is going to proceed with this folly I wish he'd at least insist it be "deficit neutral". Though if he did, I imagine he'd just cut domestic spending because there really isn't anything we need to spend money on here. :saracsm:

[Thrill]

4. Because they aren't fools.

I thought Obama would be smarter on this issue. Very disappointed.

[harun]

13. They have no interest in making the U.S. defense contractors richer.

Nor do I for that matter.

[truebrit71]

5. Fuck Old Yurrup...who needs them anyway..cheese-eating surrender-monkeys...

....:sarcasm:

I'm actually fine with this...they don't have any skin in the game..can't blame them..

[dflprincess]

11. Oh God,

are we going to have to start ordering "freedom fries" again?

[laststeamtrain]

12. No 'freedom fries'. Karzai heroin soaked fried curds. Mm-Mm Good. n/t.

[peacebird]

6. Good for them. It's a tragic mistake to keep pouring our people & money into this mess.

Nothing good will come from it.

[Auggie]

7. Smart folks

[AndrewP]

8. Yep. Very smart.

[Vidar]

9. Good for them!

[slay]

36. +1

i was really hoping for more from Obama - when will these wars ever end? Sigh.. :(

[dipsydoodle]

14. Brown predicted another 10000

but the dumbfuck has a reputation for getting his figures wrong.

[Soylent Brice]

15. K&R

[WriteDown]

16. Reminds me of the League of Nations...um....I mean the U.N. nt

[StrongBad]

18. Heh. Don't forget Poland :)

[and-justice-for-all]

19. Ich Leibe Deutschland!! nt

[JDPriestly]

29. You mean "liebe."

Check your German dictionary.

[and-justice-for-all]

44. oppsy, got the 'I' and 'E' backwards....Ich bedaure.

[BlueJac]

20. Smart folks...........

can't get fooled again!!! You know the old saying Bush made famous!

[2Design]

21. good for them - war is not good for this planet - mother earth and its people are tired of it n/t

[saigon68]

22. They don't want their children to die for

Wet Dream Gen McCrazy and the U.S. corporate War Machine obscene profits

[Thothmes]

46. You mean they dont want their children to die in Obama's war.

[Libertas1776]

23. But but but

the Prez said we were working with our allies, NATO, blah blah blah!!!!

At least some people have some fucking sense.

[Zavulon]

24. Good for them.

This is a fool's errand and is not going to work any more than Bush's surge did (despite the glowing media accounts of the latter).

In a war like that, if you're not willing to kill anything that moves, flatten mosques and hospitals because the enemy is hiding in them, you can't win. We're not willing to do that and we shouldn't be, so we should just get the hell out. Anything else is just jerking off with human lives.

Does Obama really think that sending half the troop numbers requested really going to pacify the other side? Yes or no, the French and Germans are wise not to send more kids to die for a strictly political move.

[ShortnFiery]

25. GOOD! eom

[Luciferous]

26. K&R

[JDPriestly]

28. Ironically, terrorism is a much more serious problem in Europe

than it is here. Maybe that is why they don't want to send troops -- because they may need them at home.

Also, Germany used to have an all-volunteer army. Maybe that harnesses their war gods.

[TexasObserver]

30. Recommend

[tomm2thumbs]

32. but we'll donate a nice fruit basket and some free tickets to a show to raffle

that oughta help

[Steerpike]

33. Another enormous transfer of wealth.

From the middle class to Cheney and friends. I guess the president did promise to do this during the campaign. And, it will relieve the surplus population.

On the bright side it will take out a whole bunch of healthy individuals out of the domestic job market.

;( ;( ;(

[NeoConsSuck]

34. What domestic job market?

and kudos to France and Germany, two countries who can exist quite well without a war driven economy.

[Steerpike]

35. You are correct there!

As to the Domestic Job Market...I was being sarcastic...

[Mudoria]

37. Not a big deal..

French troops aren't worth much and the German troops there now won't come out after dark.

[beyond cynical]

38. Not suprising...

However, they will always be there if they need us.

[diamidue]

39. I thought it was U.S. policy to make them an offer

they couldn't refuse. Wonder what bait we are offering those countries who have committed to sending troops to Afghanistan? Or what threats if they don't..

[JonQ]

40. Not surprising

when I heard his proposal on the radio this morning that our allies could provide the other 10,000 to make up the gap I cracked up, then thought about it and figured that was probably their response as well.

To date they have begrudgingly contributed less than half the force in Afghanistan, I doubt they're all that eager to increase it by abou5 25%.

So much for the "good war" that "the international community supports".

[high density]

41. Interesting headline writing going on. Delay on decision becomes reject

Le Monde reported that Obama was seeking 1,500 extra French troops for Afghanistan, on top of the 3,400 already there. Mariani confirmed that 1,500 "is one of the numbers that is being put about" but stressed Paris "would take several weeks to give its response."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would wait until after the London conference on Afghanistan on January 28.

"We are expecting requests from the United States but we will not take a decision in the coming days, we will do so after the conference on Afghanistan," Merkel said after talks in Berlin with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

What about Poland? Later in the piece:

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after a telephone call from Obama that Poland could beef up its contingent of 2,000 troops in Afghanistan by several hundred.

[MetaTrope]

47. NPR led their piece on the "surge" with news on Poland's contribution this morning

:eyes:

[fascisthunter]

42. brains....

[lebkuchen]

43. Germany is trying to keep afloat economically

Work hours have been cut, vacation pay cut, health care and education maintained, to keep as many Germans employed as possible, which shows, especially on the autobahns. It took me 3 hours to make the usual 1-1/2 hour trip because of road construction. It's everywhere in Germany....highway improvement, B-road improvement, bridge rebuilding, you name it. It's everywhere, even just down the street.

You'd think the west was east Germany post 1989, there's so much construction going on.

[Romulox]

45. This is how a functioning democracy behaves. Contrast this to the US' "trickle down" stimulus. nt