Britain urged its European NATO partners to show greater commitment to the war in Afghanistan, saying they could not afford to leave the burden of fighting to the United States, according to Reuters. "Freeloading on the back of U.S. military security is not an option for anyone who wants to be equal partners in this transatlantic alliance," Defence Secretary John Hutton said in excerpts of a speech to be delivered on Thursday. Reviewing the campaign in Afghanistan, which began in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, Hutton criticised some European NATO members for not investing enough in their armed forces and relying too heavily on the U.S. for their security. "The campaign in Afghanistan -- every bit as important to European member states' security as it is to the security of the United States -- has exposed three things," Hutton said. He listed these as: "A legacy of underinvestment by some European member states in their armed forces, significant variance in political commitment to the campaign and underneath it all a continued over-reliance, from certain members, on the U.S. to do the heavy lifting."
