Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday urged southeastern European leaders to shift their military efforts from Iraq to Afghanistan, where their forces are more urgently needed.
Speaking at a meeting of the Southeast European Defense Ministerial, Gates said as the security situation in Iraq continues to improve, countries should consider filling the “urgent need” for trainers in Afghanistan.
Combined, the 11 members of SEDM, not counting the United States, have nearly 5,100 troops already in Afghanistan. Just one of the member nations, Bosnia-Herzegovina, has no troops there.
In Iraq, all coalition forces combined, other than the U.S., contribute about 6,900 troops. Six of those countries are members of SEDM, and two others participate in the SEDM meetings but are not members. U.S. officials declined to say how many troops each country has in Iraq.
The U.S. has made it clear it will gradually shift more troops to Afghanistan, as force levels in Iraq go down in the coming months. Commanders in Afghanistan have said they need as many as 10,000 more troops, in addition to the contingent of Marines and the Army brigade that have already been ordered to go later this year and early next year.
Brief by The Associated Press