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Originally Posted by Stan187
I don't doubt it for a second. But there is no need to pretend. Either send forces with a free hand or don't send forces, no middle road with hands tied behind backs. If the Dutch want to be of real help, don't send forces that aren't allowed to do their job, just foot the bill for Romanians to do it, that would be of more help.
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In an interview on
The World Today Neil James, Executive Director of the Australia Defence Association, commented on the Australian government's recent decision to send 300 special forces troops to support the Australian reconstruction task force already there. Mr James said of the NATO force:
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It's a functional force, but to some extent it's struggling. There's 37 nations contributing troops to ISAF, so you've got to understand I suppose that the coordination problems involved in that type of coalition, particularly when the level of willingness to engage in direct combat differs markedly across those 37 countries.
But this is a real asset test for NATO. You know, they've been given a job by the United Nations of sorting out Afghanistan and yet a large number of NATO countries, whilst they're sending troops to Afghanistan, aren't really willing to have them engage in combat.
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Apart from a small security detachment of 120, Australia has relied on the Dutch to protect its reconstruction group. Talking about the need for Australia to provide its own troops rather than rely on the Dutch for this role, Mr James said:
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The Australians have an operational culture of dominating the ground around where they're based rather than sitting there and letting opponents approach.
The Australian preference has always been to dominate no man's land, and it might take a few more casualties in the short-term, but in the long-term, you'll take a lot less.
The operational culture of the Dutch is slightly different. You've got to remember that the Netherlands hasn't really fought any major wars for 50 years, whereas Australia has. So, you get necessary differences in the operational culture of different countries.
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The World Today - Analysts warn Afghanistan battle cannot be won
I think that the comments made by Neil James on behalf of the Australia Defence Association provide a good summary of the problems facing the NATO led force. A situation where soldiers from some countries are expected to take more risks and therefore the likelihood of higher casualties than their counterparts from others does not make for a cohesive operation
Cheers