By Peter Graff
Reuters, 21 July 2006
LONDON (Reuters) - A shortage of aircraft and easily deployable reserves is preventing NATO's force in Afghanistan doing its best, its commander said on Friday.
Lieutenant General David Richards, the British NATO commander who takes over responsibility for the dangerous south of the country in 10 days, said fighting in Afghanistan was more severe than the alliance expected when it planned its mission.
"Two years ago, when the North Atlantic Council agreed to this plan, they probably didn't know what they were getting into," he said during remarks to the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London.
"The difficulty SHAPE has sometimes had in meeting the minimum requirements outlined in the statement of requirements denies commanders some of the freedoms they require to respond appropriately to developments," he said, referring to NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Brussels.
He identified shortfalls in "logistics capability, rapidly deployable reserves, air assets -- unfortunately including medivac -- and some lifesaving ECM equipment," the electronic anti-missile counter-measures needed to protect planes.
"Not that people like me cannot construct a plan or implement it, because of course we can, but with a little bit more I can construct a better plan that could be implemented more quickly," he said.
"We are not unable to operate, but we could do it more efficiently."
Richards commands NATO's ISAF peace force, which now patrols only the comparatively quiet north and west of the country but at the end of this month takes over the south, where newly-arrived British, Canadian and Dutch troops have plunged into unexpectedly fierce fighting with Taliban guerrillas.
Britain announced earlier this month it was increasing its force by a quarter amid unexpectedly heavy fighting, and said it was looking for more helicopters to send.
Richards takes over command of the remaining territory, the U.S.-patrolled east, in three months.
He described the mission as a watershed for NATO, taking on "land combat operations for the first time in its history."
He has in the past blamed the West for failing to send enough troops to southern Afghanistan after the Taliban fell in 2001, allowing the ousted guerrillas to return. Vast opium-rich Helmand province, where the British are now deploying 4,500 troops, had just 100 American soldiers until this year.
But Richards also said the war could be won, and the next year would be key.
"This is winnable. But most important: it's got to be won," he said. "If you are the Taliban, this is the year they feel they've got to win. Because next year we will be there in greater strength."
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Citation: Peter Graff. "NATO's Afghan commander bemoans force shortfalls," Reuters, 21 July 2006.
Original URL: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-07-21T135830Z_01_L21755754_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-AFGHAN-NATO-COL.XML
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