U.S. seeks Afghan troop increase

CORNWALLIS, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday the United States was trying to fill a request for additional combat brigades in Afghanistan next year and that he wanted at least some of the troops in place before the country's election next fall.

The Pentagon already announced it would send one brigade in January and is looking to send another three, as troops become available due to drawdowns in Iraq, later in the year.

In addition, commanders need an aviation brigade.

"We will deploy an additional brigade combat team in January," Gates said after a meeting of defense ministers from eight countries that have forces in southern Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold.

"Beyond that we've had some very preliminary discussions. We don't have a timetable at this point," for the additional forces requested by top NATO commander Gen. David McKiernan, Gates told a news conference in the eastern Canadian town of Cornwallis.

A U.S. brigade has about 3,500 soldiers.

Violence in Afghanistan has surged to levels not seen since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion toppled the country's former Taliban rulers, prompting commanders to call for more troops.

Gates said the meeting had discussed trying to put as many troops as possible into the country before the presidential election there, saying a successful vote was the international community's most important objective for Afghanistan in 2009.

"The notion that things are out of control in Afghanistan or that we're sliding toward a disaster I think is far too pessimistic," he said.

"We are clearly going to be putting more troops in and I think that the prospects for being able to have these elections successfully are good."

Gates called on Afghan authorities to play their part too.

"We all recognize the need for the Afghan government -- with our help -- to demonstrate some progress over the course of 2009," he said.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama says he wants to focus more on the Afghan war and plans to persuade other nations to send more soldiers.

But Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said Obama should look to other NATO members first, rather than turning to the other seven states that took part in the Cornwallis meeting: Canada, Denmark, Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, Estonia and Romania.

"The reality is there are other NATO doors that President-elect Obama should be knocking on first," he told the news conference. Canada has long complained that the nations with troops in southern Afghanistan are bearing a disproportionate share of the military burden.

"There is an enormous amount of goodwill that has been engendered by President-elect Obama that he might be willing to spend for a cause that he clearly believes in," said MacKay.

Many NATO countries insist on stationing their troops in other quieter parts of Afghanistan and strictly limit what kind of combat activities they can carry out.

(Reporting by David Morgan, writing by David Ljunggren)