NATO chief says Dutch Afghan withdrawal will not set off stampede to the exits

NATO: Dutch Afghan pullout won’t spark big pullout

BRUSSELS — NATO’s chief predicted Wednesday that the likely withdrawal of Dutch troops from Afghanistan will not prompt other allies to follow suit.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also said calls by some NATO governments to reduce the number of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons would be discussed at a coming meeting of foreign ministers in Estonia.

He said that although some Afghans are worried by the implications of a Dutch pullout, “the alliance will stay committed.”

Last month, the Dutch government collapsed after Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende tried to meet a NATO request to keep the Netherlands’ 2,000-strong contingent in Afghanistan from coming home this year. A majority of the Dutch parliament backed a withdrawal this summer, as planned.

The Dutch crisis, and growing public opposition to further involvement in Afghanistan, have prompted fears that other NATO nations could rethink their commitments to the eight-year war. Canada, which serves in the same southern region as the Dutch, also plans to remove its 2,800 troops by next year.

But Fogh Rasmussen said that in the past two months 36 NATO nations and other allies have pledged reinforcements to the force in Afghanistan.

“The trend in other countries has been exact opposite,” he told reporters. “I know that many Afghans are very concerned about the Dutch withdrawal, but I can assure you that NATO will remain and finish the job.”

“My conclusion is that when people (in NATO nations) see progress in Afghanistan, we will be able to secure wide support for our mission,” he said.

Turning to a call by the governments of several NATO nations for the withdrawal of U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons from Europe, Fogh Rasmussen said the issue would be regulated by the mission statement the alliance is currently drawing up. It will be adopted at the alliance’s next summit in Lisbon, Portugal, in November.

The governments of NATO countries that currently house U.S. nuclear weapons — Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway — have urged the alliance to review the continued need for them.

“As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world and as long as some states aspire to acquire a nuke capacity, it would be wise to have a nuclear capability as a deterrent,” Fogh Rasmussen said.