US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will appeal for more NATO troops and increased reconstruction efforts across Afghanistan at talks with alliance foreign ministers in Brussels this week, a senior US official said.
Richard Boucher, assistant US Secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs, said Rice was set to announce a "significant contribution" to Afghan aid efforts. He did not mention any specific figures but reports in Washington say the US is ready to give up to 8 billion dollars in additional aid to Afghanistan. Rice will appeal to other NATO countries to make a similar increase in reconstruction aid to the violence-racked country, said Boucher.
The US wanted NATO to hammer out a "comprehensive approach" towards Afghanistan which included the deployment of more troops in the south, but also a broader use of development funds to build hospitals, roads and bridges, he said.
Boucher said donors had already done a great deal to develop Afghanistan's social and economic infrastructure. The focus now was on "working more broadly" and stepping up international coordination on the ground.
Any thoughts on how you see this NATO “aid” meeting the need described by charity workers on the ground, in yesterday’s post?
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