Bush seeks more NATO aid against resurgent Taliban

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush vowed yesterday to ask NATO allies to commit more troops and other resources to quell the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan, calling the success of the alliance's mission there vital to the future security of both the United States and Europe.

At his ranch here, Bush met with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and promised to again press reluctant NATO allies to do more to rebuild Afghanistan and root out the Taliban, which over the past year has gained strength in the southern portion of that country.

"We'll work with our NATO allies to convince them that we must share more of the burden and must all share the risks in meeting our goal," Bush said, adding that success "requires more than military action."

Bush wants some European allies to provide more troops to fight the Taliban and to lift restrictions on how and where troops can fight.

He has also pressed for more help with equipment and reconstruction, which has been slowed by a recent increase in violence in Afghanistan.

With the help of de Hoop Scheffer, Bush and other US officials have been advocating those changes for months, but many nations remain reluctant to comply.

NATO's 37,000-person force has taken the lead in the fight in Afghanistan since US forces overthrew the ruling Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Despite the importance of the mission, fault lines have developed among members of the 26-nation alliance, as US, British, and Canadian forces have done the bulk of the fighting -- and taken the bulk of casualties.

"Afghanistan is still one of the front lines in our fight against terrorism. And it is my strong conviction that that front line should not become a fault line," de Hoop Scheffer said, as he stood with Bush during a brief news conference at the president's ranch.

Over the past year, violence has increased in Afghanistan with the Taliban and its Al Qaeda allies increasingly using suicide bombers and roadside explosives against NATO forces, aid and reconstruction workers as well as civilians.

The increase in violence has slowed the already anemic pace of reconstruction, undercutting support for NATO forces and the Western-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Meanwhile, in recent weeks, dozens of civilians have been killed as NATO forces or the separate US-led task force have battled the Taliban, prompting angry protests by Afghans and threats by members of the nation's parliament to expel the foreign troops. Karzai has spoken out against the accidental killings, saying the nation can no longer accept them.

Both Bush and de Hoop Scheffer said they regret the civilian casualties and will work to avoid them in the future. At the same time, both men laid the ultimate blame for the civilian toll at the feet of the Taliban, whose fighters, they say, hide among civilians.

Even as NATO allies have struggled to equalize the burden in Afghanistan, the Taliban has gained strength, and many military analysts believe it has reconstituted itself in the ungoverned tribal regions of Pakistan.

Facing his own internal political challenges, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been trying to honor a peace accord with the tribal leaders thought to be sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.