NATO pledges more troops for Afghanistan

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NATO pledges more troops for Afghanistan
By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, April 4, 2008

BUCHAREST, Romania — NATO leaders agreed to support two U.S.-backed proposals at the NATO summit on Thursday, while dealing a major blow to President Bush on a third issue.

The alliance agreed to fully endorse a U.S. plan to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe and to urge Russia to drop its objections to the shield, senior American officials said Thursday. And U.S forces fighting in Afghanistan will be getting more support from the French in the form of a battalion-sized contingent that will deploy to the east, which in turn should trigger a ripple of re-enforcements to the volatile south.

But NATO allies agreed to hold off a plan to put Ukraine and Georgia on track to join the alliance — marking a defeat for Bush, who has lobbied hard for the admittance of the two emerging democracies. France and Germany opposed their entry.

Endorsement of the missile defense shield is contained in a communique that the leaders of the 26-nation military alliance planned to adopt Thursday, according to senior U.S. military, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the statement’s release.

The document will state that “ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allied forces, territory and populations.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53824