The French foreign minister says he has doubts about U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s plans to fight Islamic militants in Afghanistan.
Bernard Kouchner says plans that increase troop numbers would only work “in precise areas with a precise task.” Kouchner says France believes military power alone won’t stabilize the situation in Afghanistan.
Kouchner told France’s TV5 television Sunday that international troops should help the Afghan people “take matters into their own hands.”
Obama wants to step up the U.S. fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
The United States has some 32,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. Obama has said he plans to add about 7,000 or 8,000 troops to the NATO mission there next year.
