Britain offers to expand force in Afghanistan

Brown hinted strongly that discussions with President Obama and other US leaders had persuaded him that their current review of Afghanistan strategy would result in a similar approval for at least a modest increase in US troops - perhaps linked, like Britain’s, to strict conditions on President Hamid Karzai’s government in Afghanistan.

In Washington, the White House expressed appreciation for the British decision but denied that Obama had made his decision. The president met for three hours with his national security team to discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan, his fifth such meeting in recent weeks as he reviews strategy and his commander’s request for more troops.

Obama and his advisers focused much of their discussion on concerns with the Afghan government, the need to accelerate training of Afghan security forces, and the challenges in deploying more civilian assistance, White House officials said. Obama plans another meeting next week and does not appear close to a decision, prompting renewed criticism from Republicans that he is dithering at a critical moment.

On a related front, US officials moved to reassure Pakistan that a new aid package did not impinge on its sovereignty. That program, giving $7.5 billion over five years, requires assurances of civilian control of Pakistan’s security forces, but House and Senate leaders released a joint statement clarifying its intent. Pakistan’s visiting foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, expressed satisfaction, and Obama plans to sign the legislation by tomorrow.

The British announcement renewed attention on the contribution of NATO allies, which have long resisted American pressure to do more in Afghanistan. US officials said that if Obama approved more forces, they expected NATO to increase its participation as well, if not in combat troops then in training, equipment, or economic assistance.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates will meet with fellow NATO ministers in Bratislava, Slovakia, next week, although without a final decision from Obama it will make it harder to lobby for more resources, officials said. Any appeals are likely to face resistance. The Dutch have said that they are pulling out of Afghanistan in 2010 and the Canadians plan to leave in 2011.

General Stanley McChrystal, the US and allied commander in Afghanistan, has submitted a request for 40,000 more troops on top of the 68,000 Americans already authorized to be there. About 35,000 troops from other NATO countries are also in Afghanistan.

Brown’s announcement comes at a time of rising opposition in Britain to the war. In outlining the strategy in a tense exchange in the House of Commons, Brown said his plans were intended to mesh with US war policy.

But the keynote to Brown’s war plan was an insistent caution. He said he approved the new deployment on condition that enough equipment, including helicopters, be available to support British troops. Another requirement, he said, would be that other allies stepped up.