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NATO considers permanent force for eastern Europe
Krakow, Poland (AFP) Feb 20, 2009 NATO is examining whether to set up a permanent military force in eastern Europe to encourage regional allies to send combat troops to Afghanistan, the alliance's top civilian official said Friday. The idea, proposed by Britain to ease concerns in eastern Europe about Russian belligerence since its war with Georgia, would see 3,000 troops drawn from the NATO Response Force, a contingent for use in the world's hotspots. "I got a positive reception from many around the table on this idea," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Krakow, southern Poland, after informal talks between allied defence ministers. He said that top alliance commander US General John Craddock "will now elaborate ideas on the NATO Response Force in conjunction with this solidarity force." Scheffer said he hoped that the ministers would be able to take decisions on the force when they next meet formally in Brussels in June. In the Financial Times newspaper, British Defence Secretary John Hutton said the move could persuade nations to send troops to Afghanistan, by offering them assurances that there were enough troops to defend alliance territory. "I hope it might make it easier for NATO to do more in Afghanistan, certain now in the knowledge that there is a dedicated homeland security force that will have no other call on its priorities than European homeland security," he said. He said the proposal could resolve the long-running debate about the rarely-used NATO Response Force (NRF), which is meant to involve some 25,000 troops but exists largely only on paper. Plans to deploy the NRF had stalled because NATO members could not agree whether it should be for homeland security or take a more active role, he said. "It's just not acceptable to go on having endless debates about the NRF without making progress on it," he said. Britain's idea was floated just as the United States announced that it would send some 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, where NATO is struggling to cope with a Taliban-led insurgency. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the 26-nation military bloc Friday to make more civilian and troop commitments ahead of key elections in Afghanistan on August 20. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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'Guns for roses' yields 119 weapons: US sheriff
Washington (AFP) Feb 17, 2009Inhabitants of a South Carolina county who were invited to trade guns for roses on Valentine's Day turned in 191 handguns and rifles, a spokesman for the county sheriff's office said Tuesday. |
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