U.S. official sees chance Dutch stay in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is still hope that a new Dutch government could keep some troops in Afghanistan, a senior Pentagon official said on Monday, two days after the Dutch government collapsed over the Afghan troop mission.

The government in the Netherlands collapsed on Saturday after the Labor Party pulled out of the ruling coalition, saying it could not support a NATO request to extend the Dutch mission in Afghanistan past this year.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said he expected the 2,000 Dutch troops would be brought home this year. It would be the first major crack in an alliance of some 40 nations with more than 120,000 troops battling the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Michele Flournoy, the U.S. under secretary of defense for policy, said the decision to pull out forces was made by the Dutch government that fell. She believed there were still "prospects" for a "significant contribution" from the Dutch.

"There will be a new government and we will see," she told the Senate Armed Services Committee, which had invited her to brief members on the U.S.-led assault on the Afghan town of Marjah.

Republican Senator John McCain indicated he thought Flournoy was being unrealistic.

"We might as well face up to the fact that the Dutch are leaving," he said. "I think we ought to plan for it," McCain said, adding that the Canadians were also expected to leave in the near future.

Flournoy noted that non-NATO countries such as Australia were making contributions in Afghanistan. Countries from South America were also helping and some in the Middle East were offering training facilities for the Afghan security forces.

"We have many non-NATO partners who are also contributing importantly," she said. Asked if they could help make up for some of the NATO troops that pull out, she said, "We are certainly moving in that direction, yes."

Flournoy said operations were going well so far in Helmand. But she added that while she was "cautiously optimistic" about Afghanistan, "we need to prepare for the possibility that things may get harder before they get better."

(Editing by Philip Barbara)