US urges NATO cooperation in Afghanistan

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Source: CCTV.com | 03-11-2009 09:17

US Vice President Joe Biden has urged NATO members to jointly confront extremist groups in Afghanistan. Biden says instability threatens all of the alliance's members equally.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, gestures while speaking during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday March 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

The US Vice-President asked NATO's top decision making body for ideas on how to reverse a losing military strategy in Afghanistan.

Biden said the only way to win the war in Afghanistan is to attempt for dialogue with elements of the Taliban.

Joe Biden, US Vice President, said, "Five percent of the Taliban is incorrigible, not susceptible to anything other then being defeated. Another twenty five percent or so are not quite sure, in my view, of the intensity of their commitment to the insurgency. And roughly seventy percent are involved because of the money, because of them getting paid."

He warned the situation in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan was worsening.

In 2008 alone, nearly three hundred international troops died in Afghanistan.

To turn the tide, the Obama administration has ordered 17 thousand more US troops into the country. This would bolster the 38 thousand already there.

NATO has about 25 thousand non-American troops in Afghanistan. And Washington has been urging European allies to contribute more troops to the front-line. But the allies have been reluctant to increase troop levels.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei