Europes Opinion on Afghanistan

European Allies had a mixed response to President Obama’s announcement that the United States is going to send thirty thousand more troops to Afghanistan in the early part of 2010. In President Obama’s speech he reiterated that this is not just America’s war, and he asked for his European Allies to send more troops as well. In some European nations the war is extremely unpopular and it is questioned why the war is even being fought in the first place. In response to Obama’s speech France and Germany ruled out an immediate commitment to sending more troops. They say they are going to wait until an Afghanistan conference in London in late January before the make a decision. Other European nations have only offered to send a limited number of troops. The director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris said, “The war is badly perceived in Europe, contaminated by the Iraq war, the killing of civilians, the collateral damage, all of which has contributed to a widespread opposition to the Afghan war among Europeans.”

The support of the European Union is instrumental for the success of the war in Afghanistan. The United States needs support from European countries in order to succeed in Afghanistan. President Obama needs to keep reaching out to our European Allies asking them for support. Although the war in Afghanistan is unpopular among European civilians, they should know the Taliban has attacked Europe in the past and they will continue to do so while they have the resources to. President Obama understands the United States cannot and will not fight this war alone, so he is doing the right thing by asking for additional support

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/world/03reax.html?hp