Some two dozen countries will send an estimated 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan next year, an infusion of forces that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said today is crucial to turning the tide in the long war, according to AP. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark told reporters at NATO headquarters that at least 25 nations would provide the additional forces in Afghanistan in 2010, «with more to come.» The troop estimate was 2,000 higher than the 5,000-strong pledges that Fogh Rasmussen cited Tuesday, after President Barack Obama announced his decision to bolster the United States" war effort. Obama said he will send another 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next fall. «The strongest message in the room today was solidarity,» Fogh Rasmussen said. «Nations are backing up their words with deeds.» Clinton told allied foreign ministers Friday that it was essential that contributions to the war effort be provided as quickly as possible. She thanked Italy for its announcement that it will send another 1,000 troops, and Britain for its pledge of another 500, but she said nonmilitary assistance is equally important. «The need for additional forces is urgent, but their presence will not be indefinite,» she told the North Atlantic Council, NATO"s highest political council. Later, she told a news conference that U.S. and NATO forces need additional forces as well as extra capabilities. «We have gone a very long way toward meeting those needs today,» she said. U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the top NATO and U.S. commander in Europe, said in an Associated Press interview during a break in the talks he believes several thousand more non-U.S. troops may be contributed next year, in addition to the 7,000 cited by Fogh Rasmussen. «What we are all underlining to potential troop contributors is that we are truly asking for emphasis in the training area,» Stavridis said. «And what I"m hearing is that we"ll get very good responses.» According to a copy of Clinton"s prepared remarks to the closed-door meeting, she told the gathered ministers that «the pace, size, and scope of the drawdown will be predicated on the situation on the ground.» «If things are going well, a larger number of forces could be removed from more areas,» she said. «If not, the size and speed of the drawdown will be adjusted accordingly.» In his remarks to reporters, Fogh Rasmussen made a similar point. «Transition (to Afghan control) does not mean exit,» he said.
