TANNER: 2007 IS CRITICAL YEAR IN AFGHANISTAN

From NATO Meetings, Says Allies Committed to Success in Afghanistan

PARIS, FRANCE, February 20, 2007 – Congressman John Tanner said he is discussing the future of NATO operations in Afghanistan during meetings of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, and in Paris and Rome. Tanner is chairman of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the legislative arm of the NATO alliance.

The purpose of the trip is to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to NATO’s efforts in Afghanistan, Tanner said. All 26 NATO member countries are supporting efforts in Afghanistan, where al Qaeda is reportedly planning a spring offensive. The United States has committed additional troops and funding for NATO operations in Afghanistan.

NATO allies also expect 2007 to be a “critical year for Afghanistan because of the momentum,” Tanner said. “There are now almost 2 million girls in school in Afghanistan, which they were not allowed to do during Taliban control of that country.”

Tanner said it is unfortunate that some people in the U.S. and Europe now lump the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq together.

“We are here to affirm that from a Congressional standpoint, regardless of any controversy in Europe about Iraq – or for that matter, any controversy in the United States about the strategy in Iraq – Afghanistan is a completely different situation and one where the United States and NATO are more or less joined at the hip. We must make a success of Afghanistan.”

Tanner said Iraq has been a topic of discussion among his counterparts from other NATO countries.

“My concern with Iraq has always been whether or not those people can philosophically and psychologically separate church and state to the extent one must in order to get along Monday through Friday and build a civil society, even though they practice different religions – Shiite and Sunni – on the weekend,” Tanner said.

“Our military has done everything we’ve asked of them, and they’ve performed magnificently. We’ve taken down Saddam, they’ve had an election, and they’ve got a government now. At some point, [the Iraqis] are going to have to pick the ball up and run with it.”

In addition to serving as chair of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Tanner serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and the Tennessee Army National Guard.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714