British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said “Carter told us the troop numbers and the dispositions are being looked at again”.
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In 2014 the US -led alliance assessed that cyber attacks could potentially trigger NATO’S mutual defense guarantee, or Article 5.
The NATO alliance agreed to maintain its bases in Afghanistan.
On this particular point, Stolenberg said that “a cyber attack can trigger Article 5, meaning that a cyber attack can trigger collective defence, because we regard cyber attacks as something that can cause a lot of damage and can be very risky. but the same time I think it’s also important to understand that cyber is not something that always triggers Article 5”.
Carter later told a news conference that U.S. President Barack Obama remained willing to review security in Afghanistan and its impact on force levels. “Everyone has an interest that our effort there is sustained”.
Stoltenberg said several nations committed to a troop presence next year in Afghanistan.
With IS increasingly on the defensive and losing ground, Carter said North Atlantic Treaty Organisation could make a “meaningful contribution”, helping consolidate coalition gains while government forces press on.
The U.S.is now able to conduct airstrikes against the Taliban when needed in critical operations, and American troops can accompany and advise Afghan conventional forces on the ground, much like they have done with Afghan commandos.
The White House said that the broader military authorities will not influence the drawdown plan. NATO’s renewed commitment will allow its further training of Afghan forces, while a potential U.S. extension of operations would further the partnership of American and Afghan military command and open the door for expanded United States airstrikes against the resurgent Taliban.
Carter said the changes would allow for “more American firepower through close (air) support” for the ANDSF, and also “more opportunities” for USA troops “to accompany and enable” the ANDSF to take back ground lost to the Taliban, particularly in southwestern Helmand province.
The regional prospects took another turn for the worse this week with reports of cross-border clashes with small arms and artillery between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Though wars against China and Russian Federation are largely impractical for the alliance, because those nations have substantial nuclear deterrents, this could seemingly be the easy way for the USA or some other member nation to shoehorn the alliance into a war in Libya or elsewhere, simply by trying to pin the next cyberattack on some faction there.
