NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Wednesday rejected U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' criticism of alliance forces fighting in southern Afghanistan.
Gates said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times Tuesday that he believed NATO forces currently deployed in southern Afghanistan do not know how to combat a guerrilla insurgency.
This deficiency, he said, led to a rise in violence in the fight against the Taliban.
"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency," Gates told the newspaper.
De Hoop Scheffer said Wednesday that he had the greatest respect for the NATO forces fighting in southern Afghanistan -- mostly from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands.
"I have the greatest respect, and I underline, the greatest respect, for what the allies and partners -- a coalition of almost40 nations -- are doing in Afghanistan. I also of course have the greatest respect for those nations in the southern part of Afghanistan," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Brussels.
"Combating insurgency is a complex thing, and not always easy,"he said.
Gates said in the Los Angeles Times interview that he raised his concerns last month in Scotland at a meeting of NATO countries with troops in southern Afghanistan and suggested additional training. But his view was not shared by NATO allies.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon authorized the deployment of 3,200 U.S. Marines in April to suppress an expected "spring offensive" by the Taliban.
The U.S. decision was made after European allies were reluctant to fill the shortfall in Afghanistan despite repeated calls from Washington.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article