Boots For Elsewhere

NATO has been progressively increasing both the number of its troops and its reach in Afghanistan. NATO has already deployed 9,700 troops in Afghanistan and the number is expected to grow to about 16,000. Of that figure, about 6,000 are expected to be posted in the southern part of Afghanistan, one of the most restive areas in the country.

The NATO operation will eventually move into an even more ambitious phase when the alliance assumes responsibility for all of Afghanistan. At that point, a joint headquarters will be established and Richards will hand over his responsibilities to an American officer.

The NATO troops are officially part of the International Security Assistance Force and are under the command of Lieutenant General David Richards of Britain.

He has said that the arrival of NATO troops would provide better control over southern Afghanistan. The alliance is deploying twice the number of the American troops that they are replacing in the southern area of the country.

"They have been relatively short of troops, of boots on the ground," Richards recently said, referring to the American troops.
-Excerpts From IHT