US criticism reflects NATO divisions

The Pentagon's decision to send 2,200 Marines to southern Afghanistan will fill a void created in part by NATO's inability to fight the insurgency adequately, a job the allies never signed up to do.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in comments made public Wednesday, said NATO forces aren't trained for counterinsurgency. His criticism sparked an international furor, as allies defended their work against the stubborn and growing insurgency in southern Afghanistan, long a Taliban stronghold.

It also laid open long-standing divisions — even among coalition members — over what NATO's job should be after the 2001 invasion. At that time, NATO countries saw their role largely as peacekeepers who would help rebuild the war-ravaged country.

Instead, they have seen a resurgence by the Taliban and heard repeated calls from the Pentagon for more NATO aid and forces, while the U.S. largely kept its focus on Iraq.

The latest criticism also came as the Pentagon prepared to send Marines to southern Afghanistan this spring. Trained extensively in counterinsurgency, Marines were applauded for their successes beating back the militants in western Iraq.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that the Marine deployment should not be seen as a slap at NATO.

"The idea that this was a vote of no confidence never entered my mind or anybody else's mind that I've discussed this with," he said.

Mullen added, however, that the counterinsurgency in southern Afghanistan is a greater challenge than he had realized.

In comments reported Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times, Gates said that while U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan "are doing a terrific job ... I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with."

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Gates was not leveling his critique at any particular country. Instead, he said Gates was referring to discussions he had in a December meeting with counterparts from Britain, Canada and five other NATO countries whose troops are doing the bulk of the fighting in Afghanistan's violent south.

"He said at that time ... that the alliance, NATO as an alliance, does not train for counterinsurgency. The alliance has never had to do it before," Morrell said.

He added that Gates is "concerned — and has expressed that concern to our allies — that we may be sending (advisers) that are not properly trained" for their mission in Afghanistan. And he said Gates has been encouraging the allies to make sure that the advisers have as much training as possible.

U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan "have had some success with counterinsurgency, but we had to learn from our mistakes," Morrell said. "We've been doing this now for six, seven years. So we are figuring it out. But the alliance is having to adjust to this new mission."

Still, Gates' comments spurred the Dutch Defense Ministry to summon the U.S. ambassador for an explanation, and they prompted NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to retort, "All the countries that are in the south do an excellent job. Full stop."

One British lawmaker, Patrick Mercer, condemned Gates' comments as "bloody outrageous" and added, "I would beg the Americans to understand that we are their closest allies, and our men are bleeding and dying in large numbers."

As Pentagon officials scrambled publicly to calm the storm, other officials and experts quietly acknowledged that NATO nations don't have the capabilities needed to fight an insurgency, particularly one many believe has grown because the U.S. did not wipe it out after the 2001 invasion.

"The mission has been transformed from a peacekeeping NATO mission to a peace-enforcing mission," said Kamal Beyoghlow, a national security professor at the National War College. The NATO allies, he said, "are not as well-equipped and prepared to deal with peace enforcing" and the increasing threats from the Taliban.

NATO, Beyoghlow added, didn't plan for the more recent Taliban resurgence.

"They went on the basis that they weren't going to see combat," he said. "That's why they (the Pentagon) are sending in the Marines, who have the urban warfare experience they gained in Iraq."

Since 2004, NATO has been slowly taking over the four sectors of Afghanistan, as the U.S. focused its troops and attention on Iraq, using a buildup of forces to quell skyrocketing violence in Baghdad. Military leaders readily acknowledged that, by necessity, Afghanistan was a secondary priority.

Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, said Wednesday that he is concerned about weak coordination of U.S. and NATO efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. But he said the security situation there is better than many realize.

"A lot of this is less coordinated than it might be, and if we could figure out how to get it harnessed together we might be able to leverage all the (contributions) ... to better effect," said Fallon, who is overseeing a review of the Afghanistan mission.

He added, however, that he sees the Marine deployment to Afghanistan as a way to help U.S. forces in the volatile east make gains against insurgents there. Last year an Army battalion was shifted from the east to the south to help battle insurgents during the spring offensive. By sending in the Marines, the U.S. will not have to shift forces from the east this spring.

Southern Afghanistan — where there are about 11,700 coalition troops — is largely controlled by British, Canadian and Dutch forces, and there are some U.S. troops there.

Overall, about 27,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, including 14,000 with the NATO-led coalition. The other 13,000 U.S. troops are training Afghan forces and hunting al-Qaida terrorists.

The 2,200 Marines to be sent to southern Afghanistan in the spring and another 1,000 to help train Afghan forces would bring the total U.S. commitment to about 30,000, the highest level of U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the invasion.

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Associated Press writers Robert Burns, Paul Ames and Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report. Ames reported from Brussels and Burns from Bogota, Colombia.

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