This is not just about getting boots on the ground. This is part of NATO's strategy for getting Afghanistan back on its feet.

VOA: standard.2010.07.06

"I think that there is a realism on our part that it will be some time before Afghanistan is able to sustain its security forces entirely on its own,".

VOA: standard.2009.12.09

"Either this regime gets serious about reforming itself and about playing its part in taking on violent jihadists and extremists or else it seems to me we have got to consider pulling our troops out and fighting the threat of terrorism in a different way,"

VOA: standard.2009.11.04