By SPA
Washington : President George W. Bush and NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Friday pledged a lasting commitment to Afghanistan and addressed other matters on the agenda for the alliance’s April summit in Romania.
“The United States is committed to the NATO mission in Afghanistan. We’re committed to a comprehensive strategy that helps folks in Afghanistan realize security, … economic prosperity, and political progress,” Bush told reporters at the White House after the meeting.
“All 26 NATO allies are there, and we are there for the long haul,” de Hoop Scheffer told reporters. “We are there to support President [Hamid] Karzai and the Afghan people. But we’re also there because we’re fighting terrorism, and we cannot afford to lose. We will not lose. We are not losing. We are prevailing.”
The two leaders did not mention internal NATO tensions over member states’ combat troop contributions in Afghanistan, where alliance soldiers have been fighting with the resurgent Taliban militia. Neither leader mentioned sharp U.S. criticism of NATO members that have resisted sending more troops to Afghanistan.
The U.S. president and the NATO chief noted that the Bucharest summit would address NATO’s role in newly independent Kosovo; possible NATO membership for Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia; efforts to fight computer crime; and the U.S. missile-defense plan in Europe that has angered Russia.
“I’m looking forward to coming to Bucharest to support your efforts to make sure that NATO is a relevant organization aimed at bringing security and peace to the world,” Bush told de Hoop Scheffer.