Don’t hold your breath waiting for help from NATO

RE “NATO allies consider increasing troops in Afghanistan: But some waiting for outcome of Nov. 7 election’’ (Page A5, Oct. 24): Unless our NATO allies commit to matching, soldier for soldier, the number of additional troops we may soon mistakenly deploy to Afghanistan, the “broad support’’ cited by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen amounts to nothing more than holding Uncle Sam’s coat while America does the fighting. Platitudes of European officials who, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, “indicated they were thinking about, or were moving toward, increasing either their military or civilian contributions, or both,’’ are as empty as Gates’s determination to continue the futility of an endless war.