ARAB-US RELATIONS - May 21 - Bush Seeks More NATO Effort In Afghanistan.

Facing a resilient Taliban and fury in Afghanistan over civilian casualties, Pres George W. Bush presses NATO to remain present and relevant there, while the visiting NATO secretary general said he would do his best to maintain alliance unity. The words of Bush and the NATO chief, Jaap De Hoop Scheffer, at a news conference at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, were mostly diplomatic. But the mere fact the president had extended to the NATO chief a rare invitation to his ranch hinted at concern over alliance solidarity. Strains have been rising in allied capitals over the division of labor in Afghanistan, combat tactics that have led to increased civilian deaths, and even the prospects for success. "I pledged to the secretary general", Bush said, standing next to his guest before a patch of cactus and wildflowers, "we'll work with our NATO allies to convince them that they must share more of the burden and must all share the risks in meeting our goal". But he also said that "in order for NATO to be effective it has to transform itself into an organization that actually meets the threats that free nations face". Some countries have placed restrictions, or "caveats", on how, where and when their troops can be used in Afghanistan, leaving a few countries bearing a lopsided load and creating severe resentments. "The infamous caveats are a hideous command problem for commanders", said Teresita Schaffer, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia. "You need a computer to figure out which countries' troops you can send on which parts of which mission". The Bush administration has urged some European allies to send more troops and to drop restrictions on their use. De Hoop Scheffer himself hinted at the seriousness of alliance divisions. "I do hope - and the president said it already - that NATO as a whole alliance will stay committed to Afghanistan", he said. Afghanistan was part of the "front line in our fight against terrorism", he said, adding, "It is my strong conviction that that front line should not become a fault line". Hundreds of people, many of them civilians, have been killed in Afghan violence this year, producing sharply rising anger aimed at NATO forces and President Hamid Karzai. In one incident, American airstrikes on April 27 and April 29 in western Herat Province left 57 villagers dead, nearly half of them women and children. The US military says it had come under heavy fire from insurgents. Bush and De Hoop Scheffer lamented such losses but said they were unavoidable in a time of war. "We are not in the same moral category as our opponents - as the Taliban in Afghanistan", the NATO chief said. "We don't behead people. We don't burn schools. We don't kill teachers. We don't plant roadside bombs. We don't send in suicide bombers". There is flux in Europe over Afghanistan. As Gordon Brown prepares to succeed PM Tony Blair, the British role in Afghanistan has been questioned less than its presence in Iraq. But Germany will be reviewing its troop contribution later this year. And President Nicolas Sarkozy hinted, before his election victory, at a possible withdrawal of French troops, saying they were not "decisive" there. "So many of the NATO countries have at best rather tepid domestic support for their engagement in Afghanistan", Schaffer said. "The French and Dutch have both indicated they might not be there forever". Britain, Canada and the Netherlands have provided the largest NATO contingents in the south, and thus, along with the US, have suffered the worst casualties. Because alliance troops are stretched thin - 37,000 of them in a country larger than Iraq - they are forced at times to rely on air power, making it harder to avoid civilian deaths. But the White House squarely blames the Taliban, saying its fighters use civilians as shields. "This is a clear, express tactic of the enemy", said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman. When Schaffer, who heads the South Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, met recently with visiting members of Parliament from NATO countries, she said, "I was really struck by the rather hostile questioning I got". The gist of it, she said, was, "This doesn't look like it's ever going to be right - what are we doing there?" But Bush emphasised that the US supported not just military action, but "a long-term comprehensive strategy" - including diplomacy and reconstruction aid - to bolster Afghanistan's young democracy and provide a desperately needed boost to its economy. The pair also discussed NATO's role in Kosovo, and US plans for a missile defense system in Europe, which Russia strongly opposes. "I will continue to reach out to Russia", Bush said. He has already sent high-level representatives to Moscow to address its concerns about a system Washington says is aimed at stopping a missile attack from Iran or other unfriendly countries. He said the Russians needed to "understand that this missile shield is not directed at them, but, in fact, directed at other nations that could conceivably affect the peace of Europe".