Strasbourg : Civil Unrest As NATO Urges Countries To Send More Troops To Afghanistan.

Raw video : Leaders including Gordon Brown, President Barack Obama, and President Nicholas Sarkozy of France will meet on the Franco-German border to discuss sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan. Mr Obama is sending 17,000 more US troops to the country, and wants European members of Nato to increase their contributions. This grand plan will not shorten our dole queue But just as th ey opposed American calls for more fiscal stimulus measures, France and Germany have so far rejected US appeals for more troops to the Afghan mission. The row is likely to lead to Mr Brown raising UK troop numbers from their current level of 8,300. British Government sources said they are not expecting the US to make a specific request for UK troops at the Nato meeting in Strasbourg. Instead, Mr Obama will ask the alliance as a whole for a greater military contribution, effectively making one final plea to European allies to send more troops. Nato commanders have said at least another 4,000 are needed. Senior UK sources are resigned to that appeal being refused by European allies, leaving Britain to pick up the slack. In preparation for that outcome, the Ministry of Defence has drawn up options for increasing the UK presence in Afghanistan by as many as 1,700. Those plans are now being considered by Mr Brown, and some commanders are privately frustrated at what they see as the Prime Minister's prevarication over the final decision. The Nato summit is also due to discuss a new secretary-general for the military alliance, a decision that threatens to trigger a separate row. The front-runner for the post is Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister of Denmark. But his likely appointment has raised tensions with Muslim countries because of Denmark's recent history. In 2005, there were Muslim protests around the world when a Danish newspaper printed cartoons that critics said mocked the prophet Mohammed. Mr Rasmussen defended the paper's decision, saying it had exercised a right to free speech. Turkey, a Nato member, has strongly opposed Mr Rasmussen's appointment. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, last week said said Mr Rasmussen should not get the job and warned that appointing him could make Nato's work harder in Muslim countries like Afghanistan. The two-day summit is scheduled to name the new secretary-general, who will take over in August, but diplomats on Thursday said there is now an even chance that leaders will not make a formal decision this week, putting off the appointment for several weeks instead.

LiveLeak | April 3, 2009

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