NATO TO DISCUSS AFGHAN WAR, REVEAL NEW COMMANDERS
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BRUSSELS (AP) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged NATO defense ministers Wednesday to help fill the shortfall of military training teams in Afghanistan in order to build the capabilities of the Afghan forces so they can take control of their country's security by the end of 2014.
In remarks to the ministers' conference here, Panetta asked that they provide the 58 teams that are needed, and give those commitments by later next month.
"The U.S. has filled a disproportionate number of these teams in recent years, and I ask for your help to fill the gap," Panetta said, calling this a "critical moment" in the war.
The ministers are gathering in Belgium to deliberate the next phase of the Afghanistan war and to hear how military commanders plan to tamp down the insider attacks that have killed or injured 130 allied forces.