Gates asks NATO again for help in Afghanistan

MUNICH — Defense Secretary Robert Gates challenged European military leaders and lawmakers Sunday to bolster support for the war in Afghanistan, warning NATO members that an unwillingness to shoulder the burdens of war equally "would effectively destroy the alliance."

Gates also sought to convince a skeptical European public that failure in Afghanistan would raise the likelihood of terrorist attacks at home. Citing recent attacks and plots by Islamic radicals in London, Madrid, Paris and Barcelona, the Pentagon chief said the threat would grow worse if NATO allowed the Taliban and al-Qaida to resurrect their organizations in South Asia.

"I am concerned that many people on this continent may not comprehend the magnitude of the direct threat to European security," he said at the Munich Conference on Security Policy, an annual gathering of European politicians, diplomats and military officials. "Imagine if Islamic terrorists had managed to strike your capitals on the same scale as they struck in New York."

It was Gates' latest attempt to persuade NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, especially the southern part of the country, where fighting has been fierce and the Taliban control wide swaths of territory. He has been largely unsuccessful, and some NATO members said they were under increasing political pressure to withdraw forces altogether.

Canada has threatened to pull out its contingent of 2,500 soldiers — mostly based in the southern province of Kandahar — if other NATO members do not offer reinforcements soon.

With no one else filling the gap, the Pentagon announced it would send 3,200 more Marines to Afghanistan, but only for a seven-month tour.

Gates said too many European countries have been content to participate only in less risky peacekeeping and training operations. Such remarks have irked some NATO members, who say the Pentagon is unfairly blaming its allies for the inability to win a lasting victory over the Taliban, which controlled most of Afghanistan until the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, and other insurgents.

German officials, in particular, have taken offense. Germany recently agreed to send 200 soldiers to Afghanistan as part of a "quick reaction force," on top of 3,200 troops already deployed there. But Germany resisted pleas that it extend its operations beyond the relatively peaceful northern part of the country, where its forces do reconstruction and training.

The German Parliament has placed restrictions on its troops in Afghanistan; most are not used in active combat.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has about 43,000 troops in Afghanistan. About 14,000 U.S. troops there are under NATO command, with 13,000 more under a separate U.S. command.

NATO and Gates have not said how many reinforcements they want. They said the biggest need is in the south, where Canada, the Netherlands and Britain have forces.