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Afghan worries, attacks mount

The United States seeks more NATO troops to put down Taliban insurgents.

EDINBURGH, Scotland - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday pushed European allies for more troops to re-energize efforts in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency has increased its attacks in the 18 months since NATO took command of the war.

Even as it struggles to find a way out of Iraq, the Bush administration is saddled with troubling signs in Afghanistan, where the government is weak, the insurgency is relentless and casualties are mounting. Gates also must worry about sagging public support.

Opening two days of talks with allied defense and diplomatic officials, Gates hoped to stir discussion of forming an overarching strategy for Afghanistan that could be adopted by NATO government leaders at a summit next April. It was not clear that all NATO members agree such a plan is even needed, and no firm decisions on a way forward were expected in Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh talks marked the latest effort by Gates to inject a sense of urgency not only in the south, where the Taliban's influence is strongest, but also on the broader challenge of strengthening the central government in Kabul and building an economy that does not revolve around the illicit drug trade.

Gates has cautioned since the beginning of his tenure at the Pentagon one year ago that the gains achieved in Afghanistan over the past six years are at risk of being lost, unless the United States and its NATO allies carry out comprehensive military, economic and diplomatic solutions.

He and other U.S. officials have expressed concern that much of Europe has lost sight of the purpose of fighting in war-weary Afghanistan.

Gates wants NATO to adopt and publish a short statement - the first of its kind, according to his aides - that would spell out briefly and plainly why the war is important, what U.S. and allied troops are doing there and how they can help the Afghan government.

The document would look three to five years into the future to set an overarching goal, plus set benchmarks to measure progress, according to a senior defense official who discussed the concept on condition that he not be identified. His name could not be used under ground rules set by the Pentagon.

In testimony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged in unusually blunt terms that the United States has chosen to make Iraq first priority.

"In Afghanistan we do what we can," Mullen said. "In Iraq we do what we must."

The allies who want to help in Afghanistan also feel constrained - for reasons that do not always meet with U.S. approval. For example, to limit the risk of casualties, some allied governments put heavy restrictions on the way their troops can be used. U.S. officials complain that this limits their usefulness.

Fast facts

In Afghanistan

-The United States has about 26,000 troops in Afghanistan; together, other NATO members have a similar total.

- This year has been the deadliest in Afghanistan since the invasion. More than 6,200 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press tally.

- Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants the Europeans to pony up more troops - about 3,500 trainers for the Afghan police, plus additional mentors for the Afghan army, 16 helicopters and at least three battalions of ground forces.

[Last modified December 14, 2007, 01:25:01]