NATO forces take over west Afghan duty from U.S.

[Rose Siding]

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - NATO troops took command of security and reconstruction efforts in western Afghanistan from U.S. forces on Tuesday under a plan that will likely soon put NATO forces into insurgent hot spots.

NATO took charge of civilian-military Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) in Herat and Farah provinces which have seen factional and other violence, but not Taliban attacks that have plagued the southern and eastern parts of the country.
...
ISAF is a peace-keeping force that numbers about 8,000 troops from 47 NATO and non-NATO countries. NATO took command of ISAF in 2003, its first mission outside its Europe-Atlantic area of operation.

The United States leads a separate international force of 18,300, most of them Americans, fighting Taliban insurgents and hunting for Osama bin Laden and other militants in the south and east.
...
Scores of insurgents have been killed, the U.S. military says. Dozens of government men and nine members of the U.S-led force, eight of them American, have also died in combat since late March.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/05/31/nato_forces_take_over_west_afghan_duty_from_us/

Who are "government men"?

[leesa]

1. Doesn't this sort of cut into the Imperial Plan of a two-pronged attack

on Iran? Or is NATO in on the rape and pillage of this area?

[rodeodance]

2. NATO will be there a long time -clearning up the mess made-

mostly by not staying there and going to Iraq (where most our resourses are at the moment)