France may boost its Afghan force

France is expected to announce next week that it is nearly doubling its commitment of forces to the international deployment in Afghanistan, sending about 1,000 troops in the most concrete step yet by President Nicolas Sarkozy to support the U.S.-led campaign.

The announcement is expected at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Bucharest, Romania, which will be attended by President Bush. But despite pleas from American officials, France may be the only country to offer a significant number of additional troops during the conference, U.S. and alliance officials said.

“I’d love to be surprised,” said one NATO official involved in Afghan planning, adding that countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic are likely to increase contributions by a few hundred troops. “It may not be as much as is wanted, but it’s certainly going to be a lot better than nothing.”

French officials said this week that Sarkozy had yet to decide on the final number of troops or where precisely to send them. U.S. and alliance officials expect the troops to be sent to Afghanistan’s eastern provinces, currently under the command of a U.S. general.

The NATO official said a French deployment could free a battalion of American troops to move into the restive southern provinces, where British, Canadian and Dutch forces have been engaged in heavy fighting against a resurgent Taliban for more than a year. The official, like others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing internal debates.

Some U.S. officers, including Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill, the overall commander for NATO’s Afghan mission, have suggested that a heavier U.S. presence in the south would help combat the escalating violence there because American forces have better training and resources for counterinsurgency operations.

Any troop adjustments are uncertain, however. One senior U.S. military official said McNeill had yet to decide whether to send additional U.S. forces to the south. The alliance needs to boost its forces in the south because of a threat by Canada to withdraw its contingent of 2,500 unless it gets reinforcements from allies.

“The idea of France reinforcing troops in Afghanistan is true, but when and where is unsure,” said one French military official. “Will they be assigned in the south or the east? No decision has been made.”

The official added that Sarkozy today would be taking several recommendations from his military staff to London, where he is expected to discuss the French deployment with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Pentagon officials are increasingly concerned about rising violence in Afghanistan. McNeill would like two more combat brigades -- about 7,000 troops -- to deal with problems in the south, the senior U.S. military official said. But with U.S. ground forces overstretched and allied governments unwilling to meet those numbers, the extra troops are unlikely.

At the same time, U.S. and alliance officials applaud a new French commitment, seen on both sides of the Atlantic as a symbol of Paris’ newfound enthusiasm for the alliance under Sarkozy.

France withdrew from NATO’s military command structure in 1966. But Sarkozy said in August that he wanted France to move back into the alliance’s command. NATO officers recently started discussions about which command assignments would be granted to the French military if it were to fully rejoin, U.S. and alliance officials said.

The French have proposed taking over the NATO command in Naples, Italy, which is responsible for all allied forces in southern Europe. The post is now permanently assigned to a U.S. Navy admiral, and American officials balked at a similar proposal made by France in the 1990s.

But the U.S. military official said the Pentagon has been more receptive. “This is really a positive thing,” the official said.

Sarkozy is expected to formally propose rejoining the NATO command during the alliance’s 60th anniversary summit next year.

France has more than 1,000 infantry troops in Kabul, the Afghan capital, and an additional 200 deployed as trainers for the Afghan military.

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peter.spiegel@latimes.com

geraldine.baum@latimes.com

Spiegel reported from Washington and Baum from Paris. Times staff writers Julian E. Barnes in Washington and Maggie Farley at the United Nations contributed to this report.