From: Adam <""4thwormcastfromthemolehill\"{at}the field.near
the bridge">

Yup......

A) WRT Machinery.....the Germans have lots of "transport & support
systems" e.g. A good range of helos (CH53, BO-105 etc) & a superd
range of armoured vehicles esp of the light/air transportable & wheeled
variety.

They also have a very good new 155 artillery system.

So no need for German PBI shoving sharp bits of metal into beardy Afghans
in the dark but they can still be of great use (& indeed thus free up
UK service people thus improving the UK/Canadian/Dutch "teeth to tail
ratio").

see :

http://homepage.eircom.net/~steven/german_army.htm

etc.

B) I have little interest in poorly equipped/trained/experienced/integrated
 ppl turning up "just to show willing" e.g 100 Belgians mooching
round the cafes of Kabul. So in essence there is a reasonably short list of
credible players vs those who really did join NATO as a "Defensive
Alliance" as an insurance against invasion by an outside force.

& Guess what....the players are basically the same whether it's Iraq,
Afghanistan or Lebanon.

Note that last country. We were within inches of having much worse trouble
in Iraq than occurred because of 2 missing Israeli soldiers & now we're
picking up yet more problems as a result because guess who is going to
Lebanon? Oh Yes the Italians, French, Germans etc who would otherwise be in
line for.....going to Afghanistan. Well done Bush, Olmert & Blair.

It is time for the US to step up as it was their decision to declare
victory a bit too early & then turn their attention to Iraq.

Sorry but the extra troops can really only be US troops in one way or
another i.e. if UK PBI then the UK will have to drawn down in Iraq &
the US will have to send troops to cover, or they'll have to keep UK PBI in
place & send US PBI to Afghanistan.

Hopefully the snows of Winter will be coming soon, giving the
"Atlanticists" a breathing space.


Adam



Rich Gauszka wrote:
>  'glimmer of hope' ?
>
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2356883,00.html
>
> NATO failed yesterday to find the urgent reinforcements that its top
> generals have demanded to strengthen operations against the Taleban in
> Afghanistan.
> Despite the recent pressure on Nato governments to reinforce alliance troops
> fighting in the south of the country, officials admitted that there had been
> no formal offers in response to an appeal from the alliance's military and
> political chiefs to produce another 2,500 troops, as well as helicopters and
> transport aircraft.
>
>
>
> Chiefs of the 26-member alliance must now wait until a defence ministers'
> meeting in Slovenia on September 28 to discover whether there has been any
> change of heart. Nato foreign ministers will also meet in the margins of
> next Thursday's United Nations General Assembly in New York.
>
> British defence sources said that although nothing had materialised so far,
> there was still "a glimmer of hope" that one or two nations would step
> forward with the necessary troops.
>
>

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