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The Prague Post

News Analysis: Rasmussen's approach lacks firepower

Failure to secure more Czech troops sets dangerous precedent

The issue of extra Czech troops being sent to Afghanistan is not, in terms of military strategy, that important. Whether it is 55 or 51 or any at all will have no discernible impact on the overall Afghan theater of operations.

What is of great concern to NATO, and the reason why Secretary General Anders Fogh Rassmussen came to Prague, is simply that, if the Czechs are seen to be less than keen on increasing their troop levels, other allies will feel emboldened, and the alliance, already stretched, will be strained even further.

The Dutch government collapsed over a dispute about Afghanistan and announced it would start withdrawing some 2,000 troops in August. The pullout has spurred worries that other European countries could follow suit. Click here for more.