NATO Considers How to Raise Forces Faster
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Struggling to muster more troops for Afghanistan and take on an expanded training mission in Iraq, NATO defense ministers will aim this week to advance reforms that would let the alliance mobilize faster for far-flung operations.
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MUNICH, Germany  - Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Europe on Sunday it must boost defense spending and commit more troops and money to Afghanistan if NATO is to remain a potent military alliance.
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Defense chiefs from NATO's 26 nations  agreed on Saturday they needed more troops and fewer  limitations on the use of their forces to step up the fight  against insurgents in the violent south of Afghanistan.
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Nato members discuss terms for expanding the alliance's small military training mission in Iraq.
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NATO military chiefs were set to wrap up a first meeting on Afghanistan amid urgent calls to boost their deployment in the south of the country where they have been surprised by the ferocity of the Taliban resistance.
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BRUSSELS - Under intense pressure from Taliban insurgents based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and short of the troops needed for victory, NATO again is pleading with member states to step up their commitments, casting the fight in Afghanistan as vital for global security.
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NOORDWIJK, Netherlands  - NATO defense ministers agreed on Thursday to scale down the alliance's ambition to keep a 25,000-strong rapid reaction force on standby, ready to intervene in crises around the world.
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PORTOROZ, Slovenia  - NATO states will probably   offer more troops and equipment to meet shortfalls in   Afghanistan when their defense ministers meet on Thursday, but   holes will remain, a U.S. government official said on   Wednesday.
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NATO members need to do more to boost   their force in Afghanistan in the battle against the Taliban   despite significant pledges of more troops, alliance   Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday.
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BRUSSELS -- Nearly 2,000 NATO troops, including two &quot;rapid response&quot; battalions from Spain and Italy, began arriving in Afghanistan this week to strengthen the international military presence there in time for the Oct. 9 presidential election, NATO officials said.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will press NATO nations to provide military and police trainers for Afghanistan and explore Russia's offer to cooperate on missile defense at talks in Brussels on Thursday.
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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 nations faced renewed calls on  Friday to supply extra troops for Afghanistan, with commanders  stressing a Polish offer of 1,000 soldiers next year did not  plug the shortfalls.
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NATO leaders will study at a summit starting on Tuesday whether the alliance should take more action to avert potential threats to energy supplies, for example by mounting patrols of key shipping lanes.
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NATO countries are sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan to help battle a surprisingly violent Taliban resurgence in the south -- the alliance's first test in ground combat for "a long, long time," NATO's top commander said yesterday.
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NATO defense ministers pledged today to speed the deployment of 300 trainers to Iraq by the end of the year, a program intended to field more Iraqi security
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NATO will hold two more conferences aimed at pushing member states to commit more troops to the alliance's mission in Afghanistan as it faces tough resistance from insurgents there, a spokesman said Saturday.