NATO 60TH ANNIVERSARY SUMMIT OPENING TODAY
PanARMENIAN.Net
03.04.2009 11:10 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A stalemated Afghan war and the appearance of a
new, untested American president will dominate a crowded agenda for
the nations of NATO gathering this weekend at the alliance’s 60th
anniversary summit.
Afghanistan is likely to get most of the attention at the summit,
coming a week after President Barack Obama announced a revised war
strategy that counts on deeper military and civilian contributions
from the allies.
The summit will be Obama’s first chance to appeal directly to alliance
heads of government for more help in the deadlocked U.S. campaign to
defeat the Taliban. The Afghan campaign is the only ground war that
NATO has fought since it was founded in April 1949.
Also on the agenda: Pressing for a fresh start with nonmember Russia in
the wake of this week’s bilateral agreement with the U.S. to jump-start
nuclear reduction talks; welcoming France back into NATO’s military
wing after a 43-year absence; and advancing prospects for pushing
NATO’s borders farther eastward.
The allies are unlikely to offer significant additional combat forces
for Afghanistan at the summit. But they are expected to embrace
Obama’s focus on nonmilitary aspects of stabilizing Afghanistan and
to underscore their shared view that Afghanistan cannot be allowed
to regress back into an al-Qaida haven.
Obama’s pitch on Afghanistan may be helped by his decision to end
U.S. military involvement in Iraq, a war that hardened the reluctance
of many European nations to heed appeals from the Bush administration
for more troops.
The 60th anniversary summit, being held at Strasbourg, France, and
Kehl, Germany, on opposite sides of the Rhine river, is meant to be
more than a celebration of six decades of trans-Atlantic security and
political ties. The leaders will also grapple with hard questions about
managing relations with Russia, which views NATO as an anachronism,
and determining what role NATO should be playing on the world stage,
AP reported.