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WASHINGTON - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday denied reports of discontent between the United States and Nato allies over Afghanistan, a day after a newspaper quoted him criticizing Nato's counterinsurgency skills.
"This does not reflect reality or, I believe, the views of our governments," Gates said at a Pentagon news briefing.
"Allied forces from the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and Denmark and other nations have stepped up to the plate and are paying a significant and powerful role in Afghanistan," he said.
The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday published an interview with Gates in which the US defence chief questioned whether Nato forces and advisers had the training to tackle Taleban and other insurgents behind rising bloodshed in south Afghanistan.
The remarks appeared a day after Gates ordered an extra 3200 US Marines to Afghanistan and appeared to mark tensions among allies over the conduct of the war, drawing responses from Nato, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada.
"This deployment of Marines does not reflect dissatisfaction about the military performance in Afghanistan of allied forces from other nations," Gates said.
In an interview earlier on Thursday with National Public Radio, Gates said the United States did not plan to send more US troops to Afghanistan beyond the additional Marines promised this week despite a lingering shortfall in trainers for the Afghan forces.
He said he had reluctantly asked President George W. Bush to approve the additional troops because it was clear European nations would not boost their force levels in Afghanistan.
- REUTERS
