U.S.: NATO must launch Afghan offensive
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The United States and its allies must launch their own offensive this spring against the Taliban in Afghanistan, a senior defense official said Thursday, calling this a pivotal time in the nearly five-year-old war there.
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NATO could order the start of military planning for a possible takeover of operations in Afghanistan from US forces as early as next year, the US ambassador to the alliance said.
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NATO allies must fulfill their  commitment to the future stability of Afghanistan by  dispatching more troops to fight insurgents, Washington's  ambassador to the alliance said on Wednesday.
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NATO began its spring offensive against the Taliban on Tuesday, launching its biggest offensive since the 2001 war targeting the rebels and drug lords.
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The West must win the war against Islamic militants in Afghanistan or face attacks in their own countries, NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday.
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POIANA BRASOV, Romania  - NATO defense ministers  will discuss on Wednesday a controversial call by the United  States under which the alliance would take over military  operations in Afghanistan.
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NATO launched its largest offensive since 2001 in an effort to preempt a Taliban attack.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO forces yesterday launched the alliance's largest offensive against insurgents in southern Afghanistan, marking the start of what both sides predict will be an intense round of fighting over the spring and summer.
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The United States pressed its NATO allies to begin military planning for possibly taking over command of operations in Afghanistan from US forces as early as next year.
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In American military parlance, it's gut-check time for NATO in Afghanistan, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy appears ready to answer allies' calls for more forces to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda
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The NATO chief on Friday called on Afghanistan to improve its government and boost support for its security forces to step up the fight against the Taliban.
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NICE, France -- NATO and the United States said yesterday that they would merge their separate missions in Afghanistan, giving NATO command of an operation that for the first time will combine counterterrorism and peacekeeping activities.
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The United States, which has just doubled its combat troops in Afghanistan, takes over command of the 33,000-strong NATO force in the country on Sunday amid warnings of a bloody spring offensive by the Taliban.
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Nato could be destroyed if European allied troops are not prepared to fight in Afghanistan, says US
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NATO military chief General Ray Henault pressed alliance member states to send men and equipment to Afghanistan, where NATO troops are battling a revived Taliban insurgency.
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MUNICH, Germany  - NATO expects to have smashed most of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan within the next two years but will need to keep troops there after 2009, the alliance's chief said on Saturday.
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Nato allies must do more to fight the Taleban in Afghanistan, the US defence secretary tells the BBC.