Nato head backs Obama on Afghanistan
Nato secretary-general Anders Rasmussen said yesterday that President Obama was right to decide first strategy and then resources for Afghanistan. Rasmussen said he's confident US and allied troops would remain "as long as it takes”. "We both agree that it is absolutely critical that we are successful in dismantling, disrupting and destroying the al-Qaeda network," was Obama’s response. Obama is weighing his options among the difficult choices posed by the recent report of his own commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal’s report proposes choosing between ramping up military strength to try to prevent the Taliban from again making Afghanistan a haven or turning to a new strategy of focusing mostly on rooting out al-Qaeda elements in neighbouring Pakistan. Either has both military and political risks.
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