New York: The Pentagon is considering sending about 7,000 more US troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, senior Bush administration officials said.

The step would push the number of American forces there to roughly 40,000, the highest level since the war began more than six years ago and would require at least a modest reduction in troops from Iraq, The New York Times today reported quoting the officials.

The planning began in recent weeks, reflecting a growing resignation to the fact that NATO is unable or unwilling to contribute more troops despite public pledges of an intensified effort in Afghanistan from the presidents and prime ministers who attended an alliance summit meeting in Bucharest, Romania, last month, the paper said.

The shortfalls in troop commitments have cast doubt on claims by President George W Bush and his aides that NATO was stepping up to provide more help in Afghanistan, where the government of President Hamid Karzai faces threat from a resurgent Taliban and remnants of al-Qaeda.

The increasing proportion of US troops, from about half to about two-thirds of the foreign troops in Afghanistan, would likely to result in what one senior administration official described as "the re-Americanisation" of the war, the Times said.

"There are simply going to be more American forces than we have ever had there," the official told the paper.

A dozen NATO countries have pledged a total of about 2,000 troops, the paper said quoting senior NATO officials. Senior alliance commanders in Afghanistan have said they need about 10,000 more troops.
Source : PTI