“I have registered broad support from all ministers of this overall counterinsurgency approach, but without discussing resource implications of these recommendations,” Rasmussen said.
The top U.N. official in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, also signaled that more NATO troops would soon be on the move. “I do believe that additional international troops will be needed in the future,” he said.
Gates spoke before heading into a lunch meeting with officials from nations that have sent troops to Afghanistan. McChrystal also was at the meeting to brief the officials on his on-the-ground assessment of the war zone.
An estimated 104,000 U.S. and NATO troops will be in Afghanistan by the end of the year — two-thirds of which are American.