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Australia: No US request for more troops

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-22 15:23

Canadian soldiers watch as US Blackhawk helicopters land during an operation in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, September 21, 2009. [Agencies]

SYDNEY: Australia says it has not been asked to send more troops to Afghanistan and does not expect Washington to make any quick decisions on a top-level warning that the war there could be lost without more multinational forces.

The warning came in a report to US President Barack Obama from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, who said militants have the initiative in the war and the need to revise strategy was urgent.

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Australia has about 1,550 troops in Afghanistan -- the largest contribution of any country outside NATO -- after boosting its contingent by almost 500 in April at Washington's request.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the government believes that number is right for now.

"We have not received a request for a further troop or military contribution, and I'm not anticipating one," Smith told reporters.

Smith was speaking Monday in New York, where he earlier held talks with new NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.

Smith said Australian officials had been given a copy of McChrystal's report and were studying it. He said Canberra expects that any US change in strategy would be done in consultation with Washington's allies in Afghanistan.

"We're not expecting that any decisions will be made quickly in the aftermath of Gen. McChrystal's review," he said.

He said Australia's government would be willing to consider requests for more civilian assistance to Afghanistan.

"We continue to strongly believe that Afghanistan and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area remain the hotbed or the training ground for international terrorism," Smith said. "And we believe that it is in Australia's national interest to make our contribution to seek to stare that down."