Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh
Rasmussen said nations waging the war in Afghanistan must
change their tactics and promote successes or risk losing
public support there and at home.

“Reaching our goal in Afghanistan is not guaranteed,”
Rasmussen told an audience at the Atlantic Council policy group
in Washington yesterday. More troops will be needed at least to
train the Afghan National Security Forces, Rasmussen said,
while cautioning that a revised strategy must be agreed upon
before decisions are made about the additional resources.

“We cannot continue to do exactly what we’re doing now,”
Rasmussen said, calling for more focus on civilian
reconstruction to accompany the military campaign. “Things are
going to have to change.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization leads the 41-nation
military campaign in Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime
shielded al-Qaeda before being ousted by the U.S. after the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The U.S. has 65,000 troops
in the country, with the remainder of the 103,000-strong
foreign force contributed by NATO members and other allies.

President Barack Obama is reviewing whether to continue
with a strategy in Afghanistan that focuses on protecting and
supporting the population against al-Qaeda and Taliban
insurgents. Rasmussen, 56, a former prime minister of Denmark,
met with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday and is
scheduled to meet today with Obama at the White House.

Assessment Delivered

The top commander in the war, U.S. Army General Stanley
McChrystal, recently submitted an assessment of the security
situation in the country that recommends even more emphasis on
protecting the population to make room for the country’s
development. He concluded he would need more forces to carry
out the strategy than the 68,000 the U.S. expects to have in
Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Leaders of the nations fighting in Afghanistan must speak
out more about the successes achieved in the eight years of the
war to win back public support, Rasmussen said.

He cited 7 million Afghan students in school, one-third of
them girls, and that millions of citizens were able to vote in
the nation’s presidential election last month in the face of
threats from the Taliban.

Fraud Allegations

The election results remain in dispute because of fraud
allegations. Rasmussen said he agreed that the NATO-led
alliance needs a “credible and legitimate government in
Afghanistan.”

Some administration officials and members of Congress, who
question whether the U.S. should step up its involvement as
McChrystal recommends, cite the risk that the fraud allegations
could erode the strength of the Afghan government.

“We should let the Afghans decide whether they consider
the elections to be credible or not,” Rasmussen said.

The NATO leader also said Afghan women now can walk freely
in the streets, hold jobs and serve in parliament, and that al-
Qaeda has no haven and no training camps in Afghanistan.
“These are huge achievements in just eight years,â€

The mission in Afghanistan is broader than just attacking
al-Qaeda, said Rasmussen, who was making his first speech in
the U.S. since taking over as the alliance’s top official on
Aug. 1.

Regional Stability

Should the Taliban take over the country again, they would
harbor terrorists as they did before, neighboring Pakistan
would be destabilized and militant attacks would spread
throughout the region and beyond, he said.

Afghanistan demonstrates how NATO’s territorial defenses
now and in the future begin far beyond the borders of the
alliance members, Rasmussen said.

“NATO will stay for as long as it takes to succeed,” he
said. “But that cannot mean forever.”

Rasmussen has said he opposes a timetable for withdrawing
international forces from Afghanistan for fear the Taliban will
use it to persuade Afghans that the U.S. and its allies are
planning a “run for the exits.”

He pledged yesterday to push U.S. allies to provide
necessary resources for increased training of Afghan forces.

He cautioned the U.S. against criticizing European
partners in NATO for not sending more troops or restricting the
mission of their forces in a way that limits their ability to
fight. All 28 NATO member nations are part of the mission and
more than 20 countries have lost soldiers there.

“Talking down the European and Canadian contributions as
some here in the United States have done can become a self-
fulfilling prophecy,” Rasmussen said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Viola Gienger in Washington at
vgienger@bloomberg.net .