NATO in Afghanistan

President Obama was able to get the NATO leadership to commit five thousand more short term troops to fight the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. Unfortunately these will not be combat troops. These will be police and trainers for the Afghan military.

Currently NATO has the International Security Assistance Force in place. Their original mandate was to control and protect Kabul. Their role has expanded but they are more of a defensive force as opposed to an attack force, which is what is needed if Al Qaeda is to be brought down quickly.

It appears that the USA, Britain and Canada will be the ones providing most of the attack forces for the new phase of the war on terrorism, and of course the majority of these troops will be from the USA.

I find it interesting that those European countries who have suffered at terrorist hands - Britain, Spain, France, and Germany are not willing to make a bigger troop commitment.

I know that Britain has done their share, especially in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. And I know that Spain had a small contingent in Iraq and politics about that war caused trouble for their government.

However, this new war on terrorism is something totally different. The mistakes of the past need to stay in the past and everyone needs to stay focused on the present mission - the eradication of Al Qaeda and all their supporters. This is war to bring security to the world. This is no long about national sovereignty, this is about people being able to enjoy life without the threat of radical militants killing for the sake of killing.

My hope is that as this campaign begins that success will change the mind of our NATO allies and that they will commit additional combat troops so that the mission can be completed quickly and efficiently with the hope of peace coming to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Together NATO just might be able to bring about a real difference to the world.

We'll wait and see.

Its Common Sense!