02-13-2008, 03:40 PM
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Australia Is Unable to Boost Afghanistan Force [coalition crumbles]
Australia Is Unable to Boost Afghanistan Force, Fitzgibbon Says
By Gemma Daley
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's forces are stretched to the limit and the country is unable to contribute more soldiers to help NATO troops fight the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
``We are already doing more than our fair share,'' Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said today in an interview in the capital, Canberra. ``We really don't have the capacity.''
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has led calls for North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to contribute 7,000 more combat soldiers to southern Afghanistan. Australia is a partner of NATO's International Security Assistance Force and has 1,000 personnel in southern Uruzgan province and around Kandahar Airport.
A U.S.-led military coalition ousted the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, then handed the Afghan mission over to NATO command as President George W. Bush's attention shifted to Iraq. Pitched to Europeans as a peacekeeping assignment, the increasingly violent campaign is losing public support in Canada and Europe.
source
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I am considering two promises. One is the promise of God, the other is that of Bush. The promise of God is that my land is vast. If you start a journey on God's path, you can reside anywhere on this earth and will be protected... The promise of Bush is that there is no place on earth where you can hide that I cannot find you. We will see which one of these two promises is fulfilled. Mullah Muhammad 'Umar
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