(Recasts lead; adds comments by British, Dutch and U.S. defense officials)
By David Morgan
CORNWALLIS, Nova Scotia, Nov 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday urged NATO allies to shift their military strategy to combat the Taliban in southern Afghanistan but appeared to make little public headway.
U.S. officials want NATO forces in the south to abandon the current strategy of fighting the Taliban province-by-province in favor of a region-wide command structure, as U.S. military planners consider a possible major build-up of forces in the area next year, according to U.S. defense officials.
The five provinces of NATO's Regional Command-South, or RC-South, comprise one of the main battlefronts of the war. Experts say the insurgents, financed by Afghanistan's $3 billion opium trade, now cut a swath of influence across several provincial borders.
Gates discussed strategy on Friday in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia with counterparts from Canada, Denmark, Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, Estonia and Romania, whose forces account for about 90 percent of the 18,000 NATO troops in the south.
But NATO allies showed little interest in a change in military strategy and instead emphasized efforts to strengthen ties with civilian leaders and expand development.
"We're very happy with the command and control arrangements," said British Defense Secretary John Hutton.
Added Dutch Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop: "It is far more interesting to work on the civil level in the coming years and then on the regional level."
The United States has about 3,500 troops in southern Afghanistan. But commanders have asked for more than 10,000 additional forces for the south, a request that awaits President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office on Jan. 20.
"Future U.S. troop contributions to RC-South will be under the command of the RC-South commander. They will be his assets to deploy as he sees fit," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.
ENEMY RESPECTS NO BOUNDARIES
"We hope that would be a precedent-setting move such that other countries would similarly empower the commander to use troops to the total advantage of the region," he said.
Up to now, NATO has tried to combat insurgents in the south by assigning security responsibilities for different provincial sectors to different countries.
By encouraging allies to cede authority to commanders with regional authority, officials say, NATO could be more effective at disrupting the flow of fighters, weapons and money.
"The enemy that we're dealing with in Afghanistan does not respect boundaries, so the more we can push cooperation across the boundaries we have set up, the better," said one senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Gates later acknowledged that other countries preferred to preserve and strengthen relations with local Afghan civilian leaders made possible by a provincial approach to security.
"But then how do you get additional flexibility and maneuverability for forces crossing provincial lines and so on? And I think that frankly, the addition of some of our forces is going to be required for that," he said.
Violence in Afghanistan has surged to levels not seen since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion toppled the country's former Taliban rulers, prompting commanders to call for more troops and the Bush administration to undertake a series of strategy reviews.
"There's an arc of Taliban penetration that goes through northern Zabul, Uruzgan, Helmand and Kandahar. The U.S. in these areas, like the Canadians in Kandahar and the British in Helmand, are operating with an economy of force," said Seth Jones of RAND Corp.
Pentagon officials are considering a plan to send more than 20,000 U.S. forces to Afghanistan over the next 12-18 months including four combat brigades and an aviation brigade. Much of the force could be heading for southern Afghanistan.
The United States has 32,000 troops in Afghanistan -- about 46 percent of a total Western military presence of 70,000.
Approximately 14,500 U.S. troops are under NATO command and 17,500 under U.S. command.
A lawyer shouts slogans during a protest against the U.S. air strikes in the country's tribal areas in Lahore November 20, 2008. Pakistan summoned U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson on Thursday to ...
