Defense ministers from NATO's 28 member states meeting in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, have been discussing new ways to combat the insurgency in Afghanistan and counter growing public opposition to the mission as casualties climb.

The top NATO commander in Afghanistan, US General Stanley McChrystal, laid out his recommendations to move to a fully-fledged counter-insurgency approach to try to seize the initiative from the Taliban, al-Qaeda and their backers.

His strategy would put the protection of Afghan civilians at the center of military action. The idea is that this would force the militants to take the fight to NATO forces and their partners.

But while the United States is considering sending as many as 40,000 troops, few others nations have been willing to stump up resources. Britain made a conditional offer of 500 soldiers prior to the talks in Slovakia.

Training Afghans is key

As the ministers met, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen insisted that member nations throw their full weight behind efforts to build up the Afghan security forces, which essentially is NATO's exit strategy in the strife-torn country.

"Sooner rather than later we will start handing over the lead to Afghan forces with our forces in a supporting role," he told the ministers at the meeting.

Yet even as the United States mulls reinforcements, the Netherlands and Australia are making plans to leave, while Britain has been hamstrung by budgetary problems.

Strategy may be NATO's last chance

NATO leads a force of some 70,000 troops drawn from 43 nations whose aim has been to foster security, democracy and reconstruction in a country wracked by more than 30 years of war, while US forces separately try to root out al-Qaeda.

But the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is desperately short of trainers, and will need thousands should NATO opt to build the Afghan security forces up to a ceiling of 400,000 as commanders recommend.

If McChrystal's recommendations were to be implemented, ISAF would require more and different troops, with a focus on intelligence gathering, but the United States is said to be reluctant to commit resources until the outcome of the November 7presidential run-off election is clear.

Little optimism for runoff

The first round of the election was marked by fraud allegations, notably surrounding President Hamid Karzai. It is unclear whether the run-off, in which Karzai will be facing the candidate who finished second in the first round, Abdullah Abdullah, will restore people's confidence in the electoral process.

In addition, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, a top UN official in Afghanistan, has said fraud cannot be eliminated in the next round, but that it can be reduced.

He also said the security situation had not improved since the August 20 ballot, when threats by Taliban militants resulted in a very low turnout, despite a massive campaign by NATO troops and government forces to prevent attacks.

acb/AFP/AP
Editor: Chuck Penfold