NATO allies resist U.S. call for tougher Afghan role

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=6086042&cKey=1126714847000&ticker=true

BERLIN (Reuters) - NATO allies France, Germany and Spain rejected a U.S. call on Wednesday for the alliance to help it fight the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, insisting NATO should stick to peacekeeping tasks there.

U.S. forces, already stretched by the war in Iraq, bear the brunt of the insurgency and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appealed at a meeting in Berlin for more help once Sunday's crucial Afghan parliamentary elections are out of the way.

But France and Spain insisted NATO's peacekeeping duties, mainly in the north and west but due to broaden, should remain separate from the 20,000-strong U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), focussed in the more turbulent south and east.

"These missions must remain separate with separate chains of command. The only thing they have in common are that they are in the same country," said Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono Martinez, echoing the view of France's Michele Alliot-Marie.

[Missy M]

1. I don't think the bush administration understands the word...

peacekeeping. The US troops will remain in Afghanistan for as long as they are needed, which means for an eternity. Also, where does bushco come up with the names they use, 'Operation Enduring Freedom' (OEF), shouldn't it be Operation Enduring Was (OEW).

[enigma000]

2. Americans are bored with Afghanistan

They like target rich environments, if you know what I mean. The administration must be chirping " leave it for NATO, leave it for our allies ". Lord knows, there are plenty of other targets in the Islamic World.