Euros Say No to More Afghan Troops

[unhappycamper]

Euros Say No to More Afghan Troops
December 01, 2009
Agence France-Presse

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

Britain has already offered an extra 500 troops and Italy has said it will send an unspecified number but Poland and other contributors are among those waiting to see what happens in Afghanistan.

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.

A French minister said Tuesday that President Nicolas Sarkozy had refused a US request for more troops. But Le Monde newspaper quoted a Sarkozy aide as saying that France was weighing the request and could agree to boost its presence as long as the fresh troops focus on training Afghan forces.

"You know the president's answer, it's 'no'," Pierre Lellouche, the minister for Europe and a former envoy to Afghanistan, said in a French television interview. Sarkozy said last week that no more French troops would go to Afghanistan.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/euros-say-no-to-more-afghan-troops.html?col=1186032325324