Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Obama Tries NATO Fix for Afghanistan Security

Obama Tries NATO Fix for Afghanistan Security

CHICAG0 - US President Barack Obama on Sunday faces the task of persuading financially pressed European governments and their war-weary citizens to back Afghanistan's security over the next decade.
As the 28 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and partner nations, including Australia, meet for their Chicago summit, the effort to reach consensus on the way ahead in Afghanistan will test Mr Obama's diplomatic skills and also the political cohesion and staying power of the 63-year-old group.

The summit takes place as Europe and the US are cutting defense spending and as NATO has avoided being drawn into the crisis in Syria, which borders alliance member Turkey.
Advertisement: Story continues below Overnight in Chicago Mr. Obama was scheduled to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who sometimes is harshly critical of his NATO allies.
Mr. Obama wants to prevent a rush to the exits in Afghanistan by US allies ahead of 2014, when Afghan forces are to take over full security.

Beyond that, the US wants allies, many enduring budget cuts, to help cover the $US4.1 billion ($A4.2 billion) a year needed to finance Afghan security forces after 2014.
The NATO leaders are expected to agree on a ''smart defense'' initiative, which calls for sharing technologies and weapons systems.

The goal is to pool resources for capabilities that may be too costly for a single country, such as airlift, intelligence and surveillance, missile defense and cyber security.
France's President Francois Hollande is sticking to his campaign pledge to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year.
''At what pace combat troops will withdraw is France's business,'' he said on Saturday at the G8 summit at Camp David, Maryland.

A ''few remaining troops'' would work on training and equipping Afghan forces.
In her first day of NATO meetings Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard will hold formal talks with President Karzai as well as Mr Hollande.
Arriving in Chicago for the summit Ms Gillard would not be drawn on President Hollande's decision to pull French troops out of Afghanistan early, in contradiction of the informal NATO doctrine of ''in together, out together''.

''Clearly, President Hollande has given the French people a commitment about what he will do with combat troops, but there are more ways of supporting the work in Afghanistan and I will be speaking to him about that,'' Ms Gillard said.
Ms Gillard revealed she would have formal bilateral meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who is expected to face lobbying to again allow alliance supply trucks to travel through Pakistan to Afghanistan.

Mr Hollande's position to pull out French troops may frustrate US efforts to keep European combat forces in place through 2014 and to get NATO partners to help underwrite the estimated $US4.1 billion a year in assistance to Afghan security forces over the following decade.

Financing the stand-alone Afghan force has taken on greater urgency as Western allies start departing after more than a decade of warfare, the longest combat operation in NATO's history.
Afghan soldiers and police officers totaled about 337,000 in mid-March and are scheduled to reach 352,000 this year.
The coalition has agreed with Afghan leaders to begin paring the force after 2014 to about 230,000.

Protesters are planning a demonstration overnight with thousands planning to march to a convention centre where the world leaders are meeting.

Meanwhile, prosecutors claimed that three men arrested when police raided a Chicago apartment had been planning to attack President Obama's campaign headquarters, the home of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other targets, including police stations and squad cars.
The trio, arrested on Wednesday, are accused of trying to make petrol bombs and are being held on a $US1.5 million bond each. (Reuters)