Longer tours, Afghan solution bring peace: U.S. troops
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ZORMAT, Afghanistan  - U.S. troops in east Afghanistan might be eager for their 15-month tour to end but even as they wait they say would have achieved little had they stayed only six months like NATO troops elsewhere.
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NICE, France  - NATO announced it was ready to  launch a long-delayed westward expansion of peacekeeping duties  in Afghanistan on Thursday but said it was still short of staff  for an officer training mission in Iraq.
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NATO leaders set restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan as the "key priority" of the alliance on Wednesday as members offered some concessions on the levels and mobility of troops battling Taliban insurgents there.
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The Pentagon announced it will keep its force levels in Afghanistan stable with deployments late this year of 11,000 fresh troops.
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Defense chiefs from NATO's 26 nations   agreed on Saturday they needed more troops and fewer   limitations on the use of their forces to step up the fight   against insurgents in the violent south of Afghanistan.
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President Bush has approved an "extraordinary, one-time" deployment of about 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan for seven months starting this spring, the Pentagon announced yesterday, while defense officials continued to urge NATO allies to supply more forces to fill a long-standing shortfall of 7,500...
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WARSAW  -- Defense chiefs for NATO's 26 member  nations agreed on Friday they must meet troop commitments for  the alliance's Afghanistan peace mission, which is suffering  from personnel shortfalls, an alliance spokesman said.
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Despite a rise in insurgent violence this spring, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he is convinced that American and NATO forces are making steady progress against the Taliban.
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The deployment of British troops to the restive southern province of Helmand in Afghanistan has &amp;quot;energised&amp;quot; the Taliban, Britain&#039;s Defence Secretary Des Browne admitted in an interview.
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The NATO mission in Afghanistan threatens a rift between nations willing to participate in combat operations and those that are not.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - The US ambassador to Afghanistan appealed to Taliban militants on Thursday to make peace with American forces and respect the victory of Hamid Karzai in the country&#39;s first presidential election.
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FORT SILL, Okla., Oct. 23 -- After returning in September from a 16-month tour with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, Capt. Michael Vieira was hoping to settle down here, where his fiancee has a good job.
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The failure of NATO allies to meet a shortfall in troops needed to end the Taliban insurgency will not sink the effort, which should &quot;do better this year,&quot; the US ambassador here told AFP this week.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday he is confident NATO nations will provide sufficient peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan, though it may take some prodding.
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Tours of duty for U.S. soldiers in Iraq may be cut from 15 months to 12 if current improvements in security hold up, the U.S. commander in Iraq said Tuesday.
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The reduction involves Army soldiers and Marines whose tours were extended last month to bolster security ahead of the elections.
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KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 2 -- British NATO troops have reached an agreement with Afghan elders aimed at ending Taliban attacks in a southern district where six British soldiers have been killed since August.