Gates faults NATO allies in southern Afghanistan
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WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has publicly criticized some fellow NATO forces in Afghanistan, saying they do not know how to fight a guerrilla insurgency.
The remarks by Gates, who on Tuesday ordered extra 3,200 U.S. Marines to Afghanistan, were expected to raise the hackles of other NATO states, many of which have found fault with the U.S. approach to conflicts in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
In an interview published in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, Gates said that some European allies were still geared to the type of combat envisioned by Cold War planners before the fall of the Soviet Union.
"I'm worried we're deploying (military advisors) that are not properly trained and I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency. They were trained for the Fulda Gap," said Gates, referring to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was considered most likely.
The open criticism contrasted with an earlier more diplomatic approach by Gates, who had tried to smooth over differences with European allies angered by caustic comments from his predecessor as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.
Many European countries have criticized the U.S. approach in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, saying U.S. forces failed to quell the Taliban, as well as the U.S.-led 2003 Iraq invasion which led to years of bloody insurgency.
Strong differences in approach emerged between the British and U.S. forces after bloodshed worsened last year.
The U.S. defense chief has spent months vainly urging NATO allies to send extra combat troops to Afghanistan to thwart an expected spring offensive by the Taliban, particularly in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
The Los Angeles Times said a European NATO official involved in Afghan planning had angrily denounced Gates' comments. It quoted him as saying much of the violence in the south was a result of the small number of U.S. troops who had patrolled the region before NATO's takeover in mid-2006, a strategy that had allowed the Taliban to reconstitute there.
In the interview Gates recalled raising his concerns about the allies' counterinsurgency skills with NATO allies at a meeting in Scotland last month but said they did not appear to share his views. "No one at the table stood up and said: 'I agree with that,'" he said.
NATO troops deployed to southern Afghanistan include forces from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands.
In the interview, Gates contrasted NATO's troubled experience in southern Afghanistan with the success of a U.S. counterinsurgency program in the east under Army Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez.
"Our guys in the east, under Gen. Rodriguez, are doing a terrific job. They've got the (counterinsurgency) thing down pat," Gates said. "But I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with," he said.
The NATO forces are led by a U.S. commander, Army Gen. Dan McNeill, who has called for greater contributions by NATO countries. Some member nations have been reluctant to deepen their involvement. (Writing by David Morgan, editing by Vicki Allen)
WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has publicly criticized some fellow NATO forces in Afghanistan, saying they do not know how to fight a guerrilla insurgency.
The remarks by Gates, who on Tuesday ordered extra 3,200 U.S. Marines to Afghanistan, were expected to raise the hackles of other NATO states, many of which have found fault with the U.S. approach to conflicts in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
In an interview published in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, Gates said that some European allies were still geared to the type of combat envisioned by Cold War planners before the fall of the Soviet Union.
"I'm worried we're deploying (military advisors) that are not properly trained and I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency. They were trained for the Fulda Gap," said Gates, referring to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was considered most likely.
The open criticism contrasted with an earlier more diplomatic approach by Gates, who had tried to smooth over differences with European allies angered by caustic comments from his predecessor as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.
Many European countries have criticized the U.S. approach in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, saying U.S. forces failed to quell the Taliban, as well as the U.S.-led 2003 Iraq invasion which led to years of bloody insurgency.
Strong differences in approach emerged between the British and U.S. forces after bloodshed worsened last year.
The U.S. defense chief has spent months vainly urging NATO allies to send extra combat troops to Afghanistan to thwart an expected spring offensive by the Taliban, particularly in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
The Los Angeles Times said a European NATO official involved in Afghan planning had angrily denounced Gates' comments. It quoted him as saying much of the violence in the south was a result of the small number of U.S. troops who had patrolled the region before NATO's takeover in mid-2006, a strategy that had allowed the Taliban to reconstitute there.
In the interview Gates recalled raising his concerns about the allies' counterinsurgency skills with NATO allies at a meeting in Scotland last month but said they did not appear to share his views. "No one at the table stood up and said: 'I agree with that,'" he said.
NATO troops deployed to southern Afghanistan include forces from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands.
In the interview, Gates contrasted NATO's troubled experience in southern Afghanistan with the success of a U.S. counterinsurgency program in the east under Army Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez.
"Our guys in the east, under Gen. Rodriguez, are doing a terrific job. They've got the (counterinsurgency) thing down pat," Gates said. "But I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with," he said.
The NATO forces are led by a U.S. commander, Army Gen. Dan McNeill, who has called for greater contributions by NATO countries. Some member nations have been reluctant to deepen their involvement. (Writing by David Morgan, editing by Vicki Allen)
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