MUNICH: Sen. John McCain warns that the successes NATO has shown in adapting to the new post-Cold War, post 9/11 order are being sorely tested in efforts to stabilize and reconstruct Afghanistan.
McCain and fellow Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl are in Germany this weekend attending the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, which is in its 43rd year.
It is being attended by 250 officials, including more than 40 foreign and defense ministers. advertisement
Potential presidential candidate McCain was to be among those speaking at the conference. In his remarks that were slated for Saturday, McCain takes on the topic "NATO in the Age of Global Challenges."
"It has been a long 5 1/2 years since the crumbling of Taliban rule," McCain says in his speech, a text of which was made available by his Washington office
"In the United States, at least, Afghanistan has moved off the front pages of newspapers and magazines, replaced by the dire situation in Iraq, Iran's nuclear ambitions and North Korea's weapons tests. But Afghanistan is anything but yesterday's news."
"In fact, the stakes have never been higher," McCain warns.
He explains that the fighting last year was fiercer than any time since Afghanistan's liberation, with an increase in coalition casualties from the previous year, a doubling in the number of roadside bombs, "and a fivefold rise in the number of suicide bombings."
"The Taliban is resurgent in several areas throughout the south and east of the country, and the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan have publicly feuded over who is to blame, McCain says. "Four months ago, General David Richards, the British commander who led NATO troops in Afghanistan, stated that if the lives of average Afghans do not visibly improve within six months, a majority could switch allegiance from the government to the Taliban."
McCain warns that "military recommitment must begin with NATO countries providing an adequate number of troops for the fight."
But complicating matters, he said, are "national caveats" that limit some forces from engaging freely throughout the country.
"NATO commanders must have the flexibility to use forces from any contributing country in a manner that will ensure victory, and their ability to do so will be tested," McCain says.
"There will undoubtedly be an offensive this spring in Afghanistan; the only question is whether it will be NATO's offensive or the Taliban's. NATO members can help ensure that we keep the Taliban on their heels by at least matching the U.S. troop increase of 3,000 and by reconsidering national caveats," McCain says. | 
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