WARSAW, Poland —
The NATO Military Committee reaffirmed the alliance's commitment to Afghanistan and Iraq and moved ahead with plans to restructure NATO to improve its military capabilities, the committee's chairman said here last night.
This was British Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach's first meeting of the alliance's defense chiefs as the chairman of the Military Committee. He said the discussions among the 29 chiefs of defense – including Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – “were frank and thought-provoking throughout.”
Peach spoke alongside Lt. Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak of the Polish army, Poland's top military officer, who hosted the meeting.
The chiefs have given their guidance on a number of issues facing the alliance, Peach said, and that guidance will be discussed further at the meeting of NATO's defense ministers in Brussels this week.
The chiefs support current NATO operations and looked for better coherence and coordination with organizations operating in the same regions with similar goals, the committee chairman said.
The chiefs understand that Afghanistan still faces significant challenges, but they still support the fight in that country, Peach said, acknowledging that the Taliban and terror groups continue to visit violence on the people of Afghanistan…
