NATO Commander: Allies’ Commitments to Afghanistan Not Enough”

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to chart a much more escalatory tone to America’s war in Afghanistan, NATO Supreme Commander General John Craddock warned that unless European allies like Britain send much larger forces of their own to the war-torn nation, the United States would be on the hook to provide the bulk of the troops in Afghanistan.

Britain’s 8,000 strong force is floundering in Helmand Province, and officials reportedly fear that unless the nation ups its commitment the US won’t allow a British general to command NATO troops in the south next year. Still, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised only 300 additional troops.

Getting commitments from other nations looks no easier. France has already denied reports that it was planning to participate in the US surge, while Germany’s General Ammon has condemned that nation’s participation in the war (though the German Defense Ministry doesn’t allow its officials to call it a war) as a “miserable failure.”