At Brussels Forum yesterday, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) strongly encouraged Europeans to join the United States in ending the war in Afghanistan, not only to deliver long-promised peace to the Afghan people, but to ensure that terrorist factions do not wreck more havoc on the Western World. The former U.S. presidential candidate made it clear that Europe must deliver troops or other aid to Afghanistan if the Western campaign there is to succeed. A “minimalist” approach — one he said is being advocated on both sides of the Atlantic — could prove disastrous, he said in an evening address at Brussels Forum.

“Make no mistake, we can and must win the war in Afghanistan, but we will fail without a new strategy and increased resources necessary to carry it out,” McCain said. “The situation on the ground has reached stalemate at most. We must seize the chance. If we do not, we risk reversion of that country to a terrorist safehaven.”

Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, advocated for an increase in the Afghan police force while speaking at Brussels Forum. “The police aren’t very good right now,” he said. “We know they’re the weak link in the security chain.” The Obama administration has a plan for an increase in Afghan police numbers from 78,000 to 82,000 over the next three to four years, but Holbrooke said everyone he has talked to has said that is not enough.

The European leaders on the panel said that one of the difficulties they face going into the NATO summit is that public support for intervention in Afghanistan is relatively low. They acknowledged they need to stress to their constituents that terrorist forces such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda remain a threat to global security. Sikorski, who has been mentioned as a candidate for NATO secretary general, said that while Europe might not have a lot of leverage with Afghanistan, it must help to combat terrorist factions there. He said that, in the end, international forces must be able to hand off local government, including police and military functions, to Afghan leaders.