Afghanistan Threatens Security of Every Nato Country, Says Us Vice President

The "deteriorating situation" in Afghanistan is threatening the security of every Nato country and members must jointly confront al-Qaida and other extremist groups, the US vice president, Joe Biden, said today.

Appearing before Nato's top decision making body, Biden solicited ideas to reverse a losing military strategy in Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama's policy to bring more European allies on board to fight the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Addressing a panel of the alliance's 26 national ambassadors, gathered to discuss how to improve its security efforts in Afghanistan, Biden warned that "extremist allies are regenerating" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and planning possible new attacks on the west.

"The deteriorating situation in the region poses a security threat from our respect not just to the United States, but to every single nation around this table," he said. "It was from that remote area of the world that al-Qaida plotted 9/11 and subsequent attacks."

Biden said the Obama administration wanted to engage Nato allies in global security discussions, marking a departure from the past eight years when Washington was often on a unilateral course of action that angered some European allies.

A terror attack in Europe would be seen as an attack on the US, he said. "That is not hyperbole ... We view it as a gateway to further attacks on the United States. So please understand that this is not a US-centrist view that only if America is attacked is there a terrorist threat."

Biden highlighted the concern that neighbouring Pakistan could be sliding further into instability. "What I want to learn is what your countries believe are working, what you think is not working, how we can do a better job in stopping Afghanistan and Pakistan from being a haven for terrorists," he said.

Since his election, Obama has pushed European allies such as France, Italy and Germany to send more troops to Afghanistan, but some have been reluctant to send soldiers into the line of fire. US officials have also asked European countries to consider what aid they could give to stabilise Afghanistan and help reconstruction efforts.

However, a senior US administration official, travelling with Biden, said the vice president would not make specific requests for extra troops from European allies.

The vice president's visit comes less than a week after the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, also met Nato and EU foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss the volatile state, indicating that reaching out to allies to help in Afghanistan is now Washington's priority.

Obama is looking at how Nato's mission in Afghanistan can turn the tide in the volatile south of the country, which has seen a steady rise in fighting and losses. The top US military officer in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, said on Sunday that coalition forces were not winning the war in the south, which remains the center of the Taliban-led insurgency.

A strategic review of US policy in Afghanistan launched after Obama took office in January is expected to be completed later this month.

The president has promised to end US combat in Iraq by August 2010, in part to lessen pressure on US armed forces so that, if necessary, extra troops can be deployed to Afghanistan. The US currently has 53,000 troops there after Obama last month dispatched 17,000 more soldiers in anticipation of more violence with the arrival of spring. He is expected to send the same number again later this year. Nato currently also has about 30,000 non-US troops in the country.

After his meeting with Nato allies, Biden is expected to head to EU headquarters for talks with officials, including the Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the 27-nation bloc's presidency.