The Pros And Cons Of NATO

NATO (North Atlantic Trade Organization) has been involved in many conflicts in the world for example, Bosnia, 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan. Long has there been conflict in Afghanistan, the United States got involved in the enduring conflicts in 2001 when they invaded the country after the attacks on September 11 on the World Trade Center in New York City. The United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, which set out “to destroy the terrorist bases in Afghanistan, to capture or kill Al Qaeda’s leadership and to remove the Taliban regime from power” (Roi and Smolynec 289). At the beginning of 2003 NATO supported the war in Afghanistan. It was not only the goal of the United States and NATO to complete their original goals, but the plans

This has leaded that NATO countries are openly questioning the commitments to the Afghan mission. “The level of troop commitments from NATO today (is) not sufficient to achieve the long-run objectives that the international community and NATO have set for themselves […] NATO chiefs of staff […] recognized that ISAF did not have sufficient forces in certain regions of Afghanistan, that important capabilities had not been delivered to ISAF and that these shortfalls were creating additional risks to ISAF forces” (Roi and Smolynec 302). As a result of this, the forces in place in southern Afghanistan would have to fight harder, make more crucial decisions and establish difficult strategies to be assured of defeating Taliban forces, and which would ultimately prolong the stay of the troops. Another problem that arose by deploying troops was that there was no consideration of the development that was happening in Afghanistan itself. There was no strategy to which the different interventions were holding on to: “At times, particularly in the NATO context, it appeared that the strategic goal was simply to deploy. The ends, ways and means calculations that could link various stands of international activity in a country to a coherent and agreed political purpose seemed peripheral to the high politics being played out Western capitals” (Bird and Marshall 158). One example of the complex situation and the insufficient dealings with Taliban forces is of the 1 Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) Battle group, along with US and Afghan forces during Operation Medusa (Roi and Smolynec 303). In September 2006, they engaged in a battle against a large Taliban force in the vicinity of Panjwayi and Zhare districts of Kandahar