NATO is now claiming that the Afghan war effort is *now* on track. Not sure what the delay was. Maybe the Germans were still trying to find the FOB gate, or the Spanish were looking for the gate to the local flight ops shack, or the Canadians were looking for their general's safety on his C4.
NATO agreed Friday to begin handing over control of Afghanistan to the Afghan government this year, a process that if successful would enable President Barack Obama to meet his target date of July 2011 for starting to bring U.S. troops home.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the 28-nation alliance is on track with its new strategy for winding down the war in Afghanistan, despite security setbacks and a continuing shortage of foreign trainers for the fledgling Afghan police and army.
He said a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, agreed on what it will take to create conditions enabling Afghans to assume control of their own country. He was not specific about what those conditions will be, but said progress in that direction is important in order to avoid further erosion of public support for the war effort.
"Where it occurs, the transition must be not just sustainable but irreversible," Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference at the conclusion of the two-day meeting.
By: Brant
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