Nato's very public announcement on 8 December that it will send an additional 6,000 troops to Taleban-infested southern Afghanistan next spring and Washington's more cryptic remarks that it wants to withdraw 4,000 troops from the same region at the same time are being read very differently by all those affected.
Are Nato troops really prepared to move beyond peace-keeping duties and take on a combat role in a region which is the hotbed of Taleban activity?
Is Nato going to be more than just the proverbial cleaner who arrives after the battle to clear up the mess and keep the peace in a failed state?
The Netherlands, which had promised 1,000 troops, hesitated for months before agreeing to the deployment, while it took weeks of cajoling to get Denmark and Sweden to come up with a few hundred extra troops.
Read more of Ahmed Rashid's excellent article at the BBC.
Nato's very public announcement on 8 December that it will send an additional 6,000 troops to Taleban-infested southern Afghanistan next spring and Washington's more cryptic remarks that it wants to withdraw 4,000 troops from the same region at the same time are being read very differently by all those affected.
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