NY Post - April 5, 2009 - By LUKAS I. ALPERT
NATO'S B'DAY 'BASH' RIOTS ROCK ALLIANCE
Thousands of Molotov cocktail-wielding, anti-war protesters clashed with police and set fires along the Franco-German border yesterday, as President Obama gathered with European leaders to celebrate NATO's 60th anniversary.
The wild protests -- in which black-masked anarchists set fire to a hotel in Strasbourg, France, and a border post along a bridge connecting the two countries -- forced First Lady Michelle Obama to cancel a visit to a cancer center.
The strife came as NATO leaders pledged at the alliance's anniversary summit to send a measly 5,000 soldiers to Afghanistan stopping well-short of the 21,000 extra troops the United States is planning to send to the war-torn nation.
Obama nonetheless hailed what he called a "concrete commitment," from NATO allies, saying they were putting a "strong down payment" toward securing the country where the Taliban and al Qaeda have been growing in strength.
"I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy," Obama said, waiving off questions about the anemic backing from Europe. (continues... )
The wild protests -- in which black-masked anarchists set fire to a hotel in Strasbourg, France, and a border post along a bridge connecting the two countries -- forced First Lady Michelle Obama to cancel a visit to a cancer center.
The strife came as NATO leaders pledged at the alliance's anniversary summit to send a measly 5,000 soldiers to Afghanistan stopping well-short of the 21,000 extra troops the United States is planning to send to the war-torn nation.
Obama nonetheless hailed what he called a "concrete commitment," from NATO allies, saying they were putting a "strong down payment" toward securing the country where the Taliban and al Qaeda have been growing in strength.
"I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy," Obama said, waiving off questions about the anemic backing from Europe. (continues... )
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