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04-04-09 NATO Boosts Afghanistan Presence

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization pledged up to 5,000 additional military troops and trainers for Afghanistan Saturday,along with $100 million for the Afghan national army.In a round of realpolitik,the member nations papered over anger stemming from a new Afghan law that critics believe will legalize rape in Afghan Shiite marriages and sharply set back women's rights.Leaders warned Afghan president Hamid Karzai not to implement the law,but they backed off threats to withhold aid until the law is rejected."We want to do everything we can to encourage and promote rule of law,human rights,the education of women and girls in Afghanistan," U.S. President Barack Obama said at a press conference that closed the summit,calling the new law "abhorrent."But he emphasized U.S. and NATO troops are fighting in Afghanistan first and foremost to defend the alliance against terrorism,and the new law would not deter U.S. forces from their mission.The main reason "we are there is to root out Al Qaeda,so that they cannot attack members of the alliance," he said.Deteriorating security in Afghanistan dominated the alliance's 60th anniversary summit,which also elected Denmark's prime minister,Anders Fogh Rasmussen,the next secretary general over initial Turkish objections. Mr. Rasmussen led his country when the Muslim world became enraged over a political cartoon published in Denmark that Muslims said insulted the prophet Muhammad