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A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 9 November 2017

NATO green lights plan to improve structure US could have 16,000 troops

By LORNE COOK, Associ- across the Atlantic from the Europe and North America, in Afghanistan next year: AP
ated Press United States, the other a remain free and secure.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Wary of a logistics command to su- This is vital for our trans-At- By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
belligerent and unpredict- pervise troop movements lantic alliance.” BRUSSELS (AP) — The expected deployment of hun-
able Russia, NATO is ex- in Europe. “Our military commands dreds more U.S. Army trainers to Afghanistan early next
panding its operations for “We need a command will now flesh out the de- year will probably increase the total number of Ameri-
the first time since the end structure which can make tails,” Stoltenberg said, and can forces there to almost 16,000, according to U.S.
officials.
At least 15,000 U.S. forces are in Afghanistan, after
President Donald Trump decided to send about 3,800
troops to the country this fall to strengthen efforts to
advise Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism
missions. All those extra troops are already in the coun-
try, U.S. defense officials said.
The Army’s new security force assistance brigade
is being built and trained at Fort Benning, Georgia,
and will head to Afghanistan early next year. Senior
U.S. defense officials cited ongoing discussions about
whether other American forces would leave when the
training unit arrives or whether the trainers would add
to the U.S. military footprint already there.
The officials said Pentagon leaders, primarily U.S. De-
fense Secretary Jim Mattis, had initially set a tentative
cap of about 15,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But
they said Mattis has made clear he is committed to
a force level based on military needs, not an arbitrary
number. As a result, the officials said they believe the
trainers will add to the total U.S. force number in Af-
ghanistan, and not come in as replacements.
The officials weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the
troop numbers and insisted on condition of anonymity.
Calculating the actual number of U.S. forces in Af-
ghanistan has been an ongoing problem.
The Pentagon in August acknowledged having about
11,000 American troops there, after long camouflag-
U.S. Secretary for Defense Jim Mattis, center, walks off the podium with NATO Secretary General ing the total in misleading accounting measures and
Jens Stoltenberg, left, and British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson, right, after a group photo of red tape. Under the Obama administration, troops
NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. were capped at 8,400. But that limit was routinely ex-
(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) ceeded. Commanders shuffled troops in and out, la-

of the Cold War and draw- sure that we have the right submit the results to the beled many “temporary” and used other personnel
ing up plans to improve the forces, in the right place, ministers when they next accounting tactics to artificially keep the public count
way the military alliance with the right equipment at meet in February. low.
commands and deploys its the right time,” NATO Sec- Asked about the risk that Trump has changed the policy, giving Mattis the au-
forces. retary-General Jens Stol- Russia poses to the 29-na- thority to adjust troops levels based on military require-
NATO defense ministers tenberg told reporters at tion alliance, particularly ments and effectively eliminating the cap. Both Trump
on Wednesday endorsed the meeting in Brussels. those lying on Russia’s bor- and Mattis have insisted repeatedly they don’t want
a proposal to create two He said the Atlantic head- ders, Stoltenberg said “we to talk publicly about troop numbers in Afghanistan
new commands: one to quarters would “ensure don’t see any imminent because they don’t want to give information to the
protect sea lanes ferry- that sea lanes, our lines of threat against any NATO enemy.
ing troops and equipment communication between ally.” q The influx of U.S. trainers underscores the military’s re-
newed focus on building up Afghan forces so they
US, allies urge UN on Syria chemical experts can better fight the insurgents and take control of their
own country’s security. The goal is to reverse setbacks
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Asso- retary Boris Johnson and sored council resolution on experienced by Afghan forces in recent years, as the
ciated Press French Foreign Minister Oct. 24 that would have Obama administration steadily reduced U.S. troop lev-
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Jean-Yves Le Drian. Later, renewed the mandate of els.
top U.S., British, French and German Foreign Minister the experts from the U.N. At the same time, however, the U.S. has been pressing
German diplomats urged Sigmar Gabriel also joined and the Organization for NATO allies to increase their troop commitments to Af-
the U.N. Security Council the call. the Prohibition of Chemical ghanistan to help train and advise the Afghan forces
on Wednesday to renew Their joint statement follows Weapons which expires on and bolster the U.S.-led counterterrorism fight against
the mandate of experts the latest report by experts Nov. 14. Taliban, al-Qaida, Islamic State and other fighters.
charged with determining from the Joint Investigative Russia’s ambassador said In addition to the U.S. forces, there are about 6,000
who was responsible for Mechanism, or JIM, blam- Moscow wanted to see the troops in Afghanistan from other NATO and partner
chemical weapons attacks ing the Syrian government JIM report, which was is- nations. The NATO mission focuses on training Afghans,
in Syria. for an attack using sarin sued two days later. and not combat or counterterrorism operations.
They also said it’s “essen- nerve gas that killed about The Western powers NATO defense ministers are meeting in Brussels this
tial” to seek justice for the 100 people in Khan Sheik- praised the JIM report. “We week to discuss the effort in Afghanistan and hear
victims and hold those re- houn in April, and the Is- have full trust in the JIM’s from allies on how many more troops they’re willing to
sponsible accountable. lamic State extremist group findings, its professionalism deploy to the war.
The statement was initially for a mustard gas attack at and independence,” the Speaking to reporters after meetings with northern Eu-
circulated in the names of Um Hosh in Aleppo in Sep- top U.S., British and French ropean leaders in Finland on Tuesday, Mattis said he
U.S. Secretary of State Rex tember 2016. diplomats said Wednes- sent letters to some allies, asking them to increase their
Tillerson, British Foreign Sec- Russia vetoed a U.S.-spon- day. q troop commitment in Afghanistan.q