"They are open to the suggestion," Democratic Representative John Tanner, the president of NATO's parliamentary assembly, told reporters by telephone from Vienna when asked whether alliance members would step up their efforts.

US President Barack Obama has ordered 17,000 more US troops to fight resurgent Taliban-led insurgents, amid a strategic review of the conflict and redoubled appeals from Washington for increased NATO efforts.

Republican Representative Jo Ann Emerson, who was with Tanner on the trip, also said she was "feeling somewhat optimistic" after meeting with NATO country lawmakers and European officials that the alliance would hear US pleas.

Tanner said Washington under Obama would not badger NATO countries to boost troop levels, or lift restrictions on where and when they can fight, or provide more money or know-how for reconstruction efforts.

"Rather than say 'you're not doing enough! You're not doing enough!' we're going to try to appeal to their pride," the Tennessee lawmaker said.

"We're going to try to appeal to their pride and say 'look, no matter how large, or small, or medium-sized your country is the team cannot be successful unless every member of the team performs to their abilities,'" he said.

Tanner cautioned that NATO members that are "not performing" to the best of their abilities: "You're not only letting yourself down but you're letting your teammates down."

He did not name names, but earlier in the conference call he had pointed to Germany's restrictions on how its troops can fight, calling them "not constructive."

Emerson said she thought the Europeans had been receptive to her colleague's message and described how Obama's historic November election had helped transform transatlantic relations for the better, seemingly overnight.

"It's amazing to watch," she said, described partners with whom Washington has had "difficult discussions" suddenly declare that "we're excited about President Obama and we want to do everything we can."

earlier related report
NATO revisits Afghan strategy as US troops ready to deploy
NATO defence ministers gather in Poland Thursday to reassess strategy on Afghanistan, as the United States prepares to deploy 17,000 more troops to fight Taliban-led insurgents.

The insurgents, including Al-Qaeda and drug runners with rear bases in Pakistan, pose a massive challenge to the world's biggest military alliance as it struggles to complete its most important mission ever.

Elections in August are set to test NATO's efforts to spread democracy through the strife-torn country.

Senior officers, diplomats and officials have been shuttling through Europe in recent weeks amid a major policy rethink.

Opium production, much of it bound for Europe in the form of heroin, is funneling funds into the insurgency and undermining President Hamid Karzai's government and exacerbating rampant corruption.

"I have never in my experience, ever seen anything as difficult as this situation that confronts the countries involved in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy to the region, said in Munich this month.

"In my view it's going to be much tougher than Iraq," he said.

At the meeting in Krakow, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, held over from the previous administration by President Barack Obama, is expected to pressure allies to step up their efforts against the Taliban.

"His 25 colleagues are waiting with interest to see what Mr Gates has to tell them about the new US government's intentions and the vision he has in general," a NATO official said.

The bulk of the US troops will be deployed in the south, where the insurgency and opium production are flourishing, but more will be required to hold ground that has been seized from the Taliban and then build on it.

And the lack of troops and equipment is fueling resentment between allies, with some refusing to deploy to the south, where US, British, Canadian, Danish and Dutch forces have been suffering casualties.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said that some 10,000 troops will be needed to provide security for the elections on August 20, but few nations have come forward with offers.

Karzai faces a "constitutional crisis" which could complicate security, NATO officials said, as his mandate is set to run out in May, months before the polls.

Diplomats say the alliance is ready to deploy the NATO Response Force -- a rarely-used contingent that could quickly be sent to the world's hotspots -- but even this is proving controversial, for budgetary reasons.

The ministers will also study what role NATO could play in bolstering the Afghan police force, probably through training programmes, diplomats said.

But some observers argue that for the counter-insurgency strategy to work, rebuilding will have to be stepped up and more donations received. Diplomacy must broaden beyond neighbours to involve countries like China, Russia and Iran, they say.

"A lot of the stuff that we need to do is actually not military," one NATO diplomat said. "For it to succeed, it requires bringing together all the various pieces of the jigsaw puzzle."

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