Fresh after authorizing 3,200 Marines to move into Afghanistan because NATO governments refused to deploy more troops to the country, Defense Secretary Robert Gates came out on the offensive against NATO:
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates unleashed a storm on Wednesday by criticizing NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, saying they were ill-prepared to fight an insurgency.
"I’m worried we have some military forces that don’t know how to do counter-insurgency operations," Gates told the Los Angeles Times. "Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counter-insurgency."
Troops mainly from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are deployed in southern Afghanistan bearing the brunt of a fierce resurgence by the Taliban Islamic militia, which left around 6,000 people dead, including some 220 international soldiers.
Gates’ rare public criticism triggered surprise in NATO and among US allies, and came a day after the United States decided to send 3,200 extra troops to Afghanistan. [AFP]
The issue with trying to get NATO forces to deploy more soldiers to Afghanistan must have really struck a cord with Secretary Gates because he doesn’t make much public criticisms compared to his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld. So the fact he is unleashing this salvo against NATO is really telling.
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