US Calls for More Troops in Afghanistan

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has called for more troops and effort in Afghanistan The US has called on fellow NATO members to allow the alliance to attack the Afghan opium trade in an effort to weaken the Taliban. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the drugs trade brought windfalls of up to $80 million a year for the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. "We need to have the opportunity to go after drug lords and drug laboratories and try and interrupt this flow of cash," he told reporters at a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers which began Thursday in Budapest, Hungary. General John Craddock, NATO operations commander, likewise appealed to the members of the 26-nation alliance for the authority to attack laboratories, trafficking networks and drug lords in... [read full story]