Harper to attend NATO summit; ask for more troops in Afghanistan

A Canadian military panel of retired generals and analysts said Sunday that additional soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan will help Canada's mission in that country, days before the Prime Minister is set to attend a NATO summit to discuss the possibility of more troops.

"NATO's forces on the ground here are so numerically weak that any thousand makes a difference anywhere in the country, but especially in the south," said David Bercuson, director of the University of Calgary's Centre for Military & Strategic Studies. "Our guys are pretty thin on the ground."

The comments by Bercuson, who was part of the panel that also included retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie on a fact-finding mission in Kandahar province, come just days before Prime Minister Stephen Harper attends a NATO leaders summit in Romania where it's expected that French President Nicolas Sarkozy will unveil plans to send additional troops to Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, the House of Commons passed a motion to extend Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan beyond February 2009 provided that additional troops and equipment are sent to help the Canadian military.

At the NATO meeting, which runs April 2-4, foreign leaders are expected to discuss Canada's request to have 1,000 extra NATO soldiers back up the 2,500 Canadian troops who are participating in the NATO-led mission.

There are currently about 42,000 NATO soldiers working in Afghanistan.

NATO countries are also expected to outline a vision statement for the future of the mission. Key issues that Canada wants included in that strategy include more emphasis on training for Afghan military and police and a greater focus on development and diplomacy, the CBC's Rosemary Barton reported.

Poland has also offered to contribute two helicopters, and it may be willing to provide more, Barton reported.

Following the NATO summit in Bucharest, Harper will go to Poland for a working visit.