Doug Bereuter: “following the stirring address of the President of Afghanistan this morning, this Member rises to address the urgent…”

“following the stirring address of the President of Afghanistan this morning, this Member rises to address the urgent need for NATO to augment the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF. This Member cannot overstate how critical the next few weeks will be for the future of Afghanistan and for the credibility of the North Atlantic Alliance. Unless the NATO allies quickly remedy the grave shortfalls in military personnel and equipment, the NATO mission in Afghanistan faces a real danger of failure. There will be no security for the upcoming elections in the hinterland of Afghanistan. Actually, this is a crucial failure of will, political will, purely and simply. We are not coming up in other countries with the pledged personnel and equipment. Make no mistake about it, this is a failure that jeopardizes the success of our mission to Afghanistan and jeopardizes the very credibility of the Alliance. Mr. Speaker, we often say that failure is not an option. Alas, in Afghanistan failure is a distinct possibility, and unless allied leaders in the next few weeks demonstrate the political will to deploy the necessary assets in Afghanistan, failure gradually will become a reality.”