NATO politics driving Afghan war

NATO politics driving Afghan war
By Gareth Porter
Jan 5, 2011

WASHINGTON - The official line of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) command in Afghanistan, is that the war against Afghan insurgents is vital to the security of all the countries providing troops there.

In fact, however, NATO was given a central role in Afghanistan because of the influence of United States officials concerned with the alliance, according to a US military officer who was in a position to observe the decision-making process.

"NATO's role in Afghanistan is more about NATO than it is about Afghanistan," the officer, who insisted on anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the subject, told Inter Press Service in an interview.

The alliance would never have been given such a prominent role in Afghanistan but for the fact that the George W Bush administration wanted no significant US military role there that could interfere with their plans to take control of Iraq.

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To get NATO allies to increase their troop presence in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, Jones assured member states that they would only be mopping up after the US military had defeated the Taliban. On a visit to Afghanistan in August 2004, Jones said, "We should not ever even think that there is going to be an insurrection of the type that we see in Iraq here. It's just not going to happen."




unhappycamper comment: In addition to the $100 billion dollars our troops on the ground cost, I read (somewhere) that the US is also paying for 70% of NATO's costs to keep the occupation going.