Europe to contribute 5,000 extra troops to Afghanistan

[CHIMO]

Barack Obama today won agreement for substantial Nato troop reinforcements in Afghanistan, when nine European nations, including Britain, said they would send up to 5,000 troops and logistical help ahead of the presidential elections there in August. Britain is to send 900 extra troops almost immediately, who will remain until October.

The decision, made at a Nato summit in Strasbourg, will be a profound political relief for the US president, who badly needed to be able to show his domestic audience that his offer of a new style of partnership with Europe could reap tangible results.

News of the reinforcements came as Nato named the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as its next leader after overcoming Turkish opposition.

David Miliband the foreign secretary said the surprisingly large number of troops offered was proof of a palpable "Obama effect."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/04/europe-troops-afghanistan-nato-obama

The Afghan government is now the bad guy. He wants to stand for Afghanistan. So he must now be out.

[bemildred]

1. Well, replacing Jaap de Hoop has to be a good thing.

Whether this is just piddle and wind remains to be seen.