The deadline for the alliance to hand over security to local authorities in Afghanistan has been set at 2014, but could start as early as 2011.
“The aim is for the Afghan forces to be in the lead countrywide by the end of 2014,” said NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, according to NATO’s press service.
“This will begin in certain districts and provinces, and based on conditions, will gradually expand throughout the country,” he said.
Although the alliance has confirmed its commitment, there remain concerns about a complete handover due to the weakness of the Afghan government, which is widely regarded as too corrupt to control the country.
President Barack Obama’s announcement that the United States will end its combat mission in Afghanistan came as a bit of a surprise as the White House has in the past avoided linking the transition to Afghan control to the end of its combat mission.
“My goal is to make sure that by 2014 we [will] have transitioned, Afghans are in the lead, and it is a goal to make sure that we are not still engaged in combat operations of the sort that we’re involved with now,” Obama said at a press conference.
However, he added that it all would depend on conditions on the ground and that the United States will still be “maintaining counterterrorism capability until we have confidence that al-Qaeda is no longer operative and is no longer a threat to the American homeland.”
The war in Afghanistan that started after the 9/11 attacks has been a political headache for Obama since he took office. He is expected to release his Afghanistan war strategy next month.
Meanwhile, the Taliban responded on Sunday to NATO’s announcement calling it “irrational” and demanding that foreign troops leave as soon as possible, or there is the risk of more bloodshed.
“Because until then, various untoward and tragic events and battles will take place as a result of this meaningless, imposed, and unwinnable war. They should not postpone withdrawal of their forces even be it for one day,” read a Taliban statement according to Reuters.
Russia Joins Anti-Missile Shield
The other key decision coming out of Lisbon is that construction of the anti-missile defense shield in Europe will continue—with Russia.
Western allies assert that the shield is to counter possible threats from Iran, but the project, initially started under George W. Bush, has been an ongoing worry for the Kremlin that considers it an overt threat at their doorstep.
Both the countries described the deal as a move forward in the “reset” of the relationship between the former Cold War foes.
“Perhaps most significantly, we agreed to cooperate on missile defense, which turns a source of past tension into a source of potential cooperation against a shared threat,” said the U.S. President Barack Obama.
However, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev still expressed reservations, stating that while he has agreed to join the missile defense program, the Kremlin still considers it against Russian interests. Moreover, Russia was only agreeing to join if they are treated as partners with decision-making powers, they are not joining to be a “piece of furniture.”
NATO has been looking for Russia’s cooperation to address a range of global threats, including counterterrorism activities, narcotic trafficking, and piracy.
“While we face many security challenges, we pose no threat to each other,” said NATO chief Rasmussen during the meeting with Medvedev. “That, alone, draws a clear line between the past and the future of NATO-Russia relations.”
Russia’s main security threat at present comes from North Caucasus, the most dangerous part in Russia, where Chechen militants have been fighting Russian forces to gain independence.
While Russia has agreed to participate in the defense shield, the tense relationship between the West and Russia has not dissipated.
“It creates a concept of a hostile encirclement [of Russia], consolidates people around the regime, and justifies the disproportionate growth of military expenses, often wasted, or otherwise misspent,” said Ariel Cohen, an expert with the U.S.-based the Heritage foundation, on his blog.
Nato’s New Global Concept
NATO’s newly announced global concept has other issues as well.
NATO also wants to be taken seriously in terms of its capabilities to maintain operations as in Afghanistan as some allies—particularly Germany, Britain, and France—are looking to cut their defense budgets.
“The alliance needs to make sure that the economic slowdown does not cause defense budgets to be cut. On the other hand, it would be naive to think that the economic crisis would have no bearing on military expenditures,” wrote Detlef Waechter in an analysis for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Experts explain that the alliance itself is challenging due to the problems related to the fact that partners have different perspectives on potential threats based on their own particular prism of national interests.
“During the Cold War, NATO was a military alliance with a clear adversary and purpose. Today, it is becoming a group of friendly countries with interoperability standards that will facilitate the creation of ‘coalitions of the willing’ on an ad hoc basis and of a discussion forum,” according to STRATFOR, a global geopolitical think tank.
NATO’s global concept also includes its role in nuclear nonproliferation, and addressed new threats such as cyberwarfare.
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