Troop 'surge' in Afghanistan in doubt

Defense Minister Martin Barták is fighting on two fronts, financial and political, to rescue his plans for increased troop and equipment deployment to Afghanistan.

Barták hoped to send 100 more troops as part of the NATO surge urged by U.S. President Barack Obama, but parliamentary opposition has the plan in their crosshairs and has already forced Prime Minister Jan Fisher's government into a humiliating retreat.

Barták admitted Feb. 1 he had to reduce the number of proposed surge troops to just 55 in the hope that the Chamber of Deputies would approve his proposal, but even this compromised figure faces entrenched opposition in the chamber.

"This proposal is completely beyond reality," said Jiří Paroubek, leader of the Social Democrats (ČSSD). "It may show the good intentions of the government and the Defense Ministry, but these intentions are not in the interest of the Czech Republic at the moment."

"The only relevant debate is about the meaningfulness of the mission. The stand of our party is clear. Young mothers on maternity leave need money, not the Afghan mission," he added.

There are currently 550 Czech personnel in Afghanistan's Logar Province, 535 under the Defense Ministry (including 200 combat troops) and 15 in the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

On top of this, Barták originally looked at sending tanks, Czech-built L-159 combat fighter jets and the Swedish artillery detection radar "Arthur" used by Czech forces, but these plans have also been scaled down, and it looks as if only the radar is under active consideration.

For any measures to pass, Barták must get a majority of the 200-member Chamber of Deputies to vote in favor of an increased Czech presence, and this looks increasingly problematic.

The ČSSD and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) can command the votes of at least 98 members between the two of them, needing less than a handful of other deputies to vote with them to reach the blocking threshold of 101.

Neither does the financial front look promising, even though the Senate Foreign and Defense Committee in January endorsed strengthening Czech participation in Afghanistan. The Czech PRT is facing a dramatic shortfall in finances, with the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Defense Ministry agreeing they need 100 million Kč ($5.4 million) annually to cover costs.

However, defense spending has been cut back in the 2010 budget due to the economic crisis, and the PRT budget is only scheduled to be 64 million Kč.

Foreign Affairs Minister Jan Kohout has warned that without the extra cash reconstruction efforts will grind to a halt in the summer, just after the general election, hence an increased sense of the urgency surrounding Fisher's caretaker government.

Barták and the government will now embark on an intensive lobbying campaign to get their measure passed and will not present it to the chamber until they believe they have the votes. On paper, though, this appears to be a futile mission.

The Czech PRT assists in building schools and hospitals as well as in state administration and training of the Afghan police.

Fischer's government is not alone in facing opposition to the Afghan surge strategy. There is also opposition to increasing troop numbers in other European capitals.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the allies would respond to Obama with troop pledges totaling at least 5,000, but it remains unclear where the 5,000 are coming from, and this number is still far less than what Washington wanted, namely 8,000 to 10,000 extra troops. At best, a few thousand were pledged, raising the non-U.S. contingent to about 40,000, compared with 100,000 U.S. forces.

The United Kingdom has pledged 500 more troops for Afghanistan, bringing its total to around 10,000, the second-biggest force. Poland said it would send a further 600, Spain talked of 200, and Georgia said 900.

French officials have ruled out sending more combat troops to the country but will consider sending more trainers for Afghanistan's army and police.

"No more fighters. We are in charge. We don't want to send more troops to fight," French Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner said at the Jan. 28 London summit on Afghanistan. France currently has some 3,500 troops in Afghanistan. Germany will send 500 more troops on top of their current 4,280 soldiers.

- Petr Cibulka Jr. contributed to this report.

Tom Clifford can be reached at
tclifford@praguepost.com