| NATO mulls paying for Afghan forces after 2014 |
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Friday, February 03, 2012 3:29:26 PM
BRUSSELS - (AP) -- NATO defense ministers are tackling the controversial issue of how to pay for Afghanistan's expanding security forces after they assume responsibility for the war in 2014.
British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday that the two critical questions are what the long-term size of the Afghan army and police should be, and how the costs should be shared by other countries.
Hammond says a final decision is not expected until NATO's summit in Chicago in May.
Since Afghanistan -- one of the world's poorest nations -- cannot foot the estimated $6 billion annual bill, NATO nations will have to pay the bulk of it. But austerity measures and budgetary cuts at home caused by financial crisis are making it difficult to raise the money.
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