The success of the war against terrorism is being put at risk by the inability of under-funded European armies to co-operate with America, the head of US armed forces says today.
Gen Richard B Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, says: "The events unfolding in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan suggest that the capabilities gap continues to widen."
Writing in the RUSI Journal, published monthly by the Royal United Services Institute, Gen Myers laments Europe's failure to reverse a decline in defence spending in the face of an increasing terrorist threat.
"The unfortunate reality confronting commanders in this global war is that few European militaries have the capabilities required to defeat the current and future threats," he says.
Britain is one of a number of countries singled out for making cuts in defence spending at the expense of the capabilities needed to take on the terrorists. The Ministry of Defence is at present struggling with a budget that is estimated to be £500 million under-funded, with the shortfall expected to rise to £1.5 billion by the financial year 2007-8.
Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, admitted that the MoD had been forced to borrow hundreds of millions of pounds from next year's budget to pay existing bills.
In what amounts to a particular warning to Britain, Gen Myers alludes to the Army's difficulties with its personal radio sets in Kosovo as an example of the problems the lack of defence funding has produced. British troops advancing into the Yugoslav province with their US allies had to use the Yugoslav mobile telephone network to communicate when their radios failed.
"Never again should coalition combat forces have to place themselves at risk by communicating over open circuits, as we did in Kosovo, because of different levels of investment in existing technology," Gen Myers says.
America has been criticised for failing to make full use of the offers of military assistance from its allies, but Gen Myers points to a number of areas where lack of defence funding is hampering the ability to co-operate.
Gen Myers adds: "Only history will tell if the freedom-loving nations of the world are up to the arduous task that lies ahead. Our citizens are counting on us to make the right decisions." Meanwhile, serious fighting broke out yesterday 20 miles outside Kabul as two rival warlords vied for control of the village of Dashte Top.
Six guerrillas are reported to have died and two wounded after rival factions traded small arms, mortar and rocket fire. The outbreak of violence follows two weeks of escalating tensions. Assailants have attacked the international peacekeeping force with rockets, and police made hundreds of arrests following a suspected coup attempt.
Witnesses said the fighting began at 5am after a dispute between two local warlords, Zafar Uddin and Nangiali, who is trying to take over the governorship.
The outbreak comes at a sensitive time for Afghanistan which is preparing for a loya jirga, a tribal council that will install a new government. It follows increasing unrest in the regions where local warlords are straining against efforts by the government to centralise control.
A second earthquake has struck in northern Afghanistan near Nahrin, where more than 1,000 died last month.
Early estimates suggest that at least 30 people were killed and more than 100 injured. The numbers could rise significantly as aid workers set out to assess the damage. More than 50 villages were affected and dozens of shops, houses and schools destroyed.
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