MyUSTINET News: NATO To Provide $11.6B For Afghan Security

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The United States and NATO allies have greatly increased assistance to Afghanistan's security forces in 2010 and 2011, officials say.

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Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who heads the NATO training mission, said $11.6 billion promised for this year brings the total for the two years to $20 billion, The Washington Post reported. Caldwell said the allies will be providing more in the two years than they did in the previous seven.

NATO gave details about recent spending. The equipment includes transport like 44 helicopters and 24,000 Ford Rangers, 108,000 pistols, 74,000 radios and four robots used to detect explosives.

Caldwell described the assistance as "an enormous undertaking."

NATO decided to go public with the information because of complaints from Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai and his aides that the allies have been stingy. Defense Minister Rahim Wardak complained he had better equipment when he was a commander fighting the Soviet Union in the 1980s than Afghan National Army soldiers have now.

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