VOA慢速英语 NATO at 60: A War in Afghanistan, and a Purpose to Redefine

　　NATO at 60: A War in Afghanistan, and a Purpose to Redefine

　　This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

　　NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is sixty years old. On April fourth, nineteen forty-nine, twelve countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington. They were allies from World War Two. They promised to protect each other from the growing threat they saw from another former ally, the Soviet Union.

　　Leaders from NATO countries have gathered for two days of meetings through Saturday in Strasbourg, France, and Kehl, Germany. The summit meetings also brought thousands of troops and police for security and to control protests.

　　NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the main subject at the sixtieth anniversary meetings would be the NATO operations in Afghanistan. President Obama announced a new policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan last week.

　　About thirty-eight thousand American troops are currently in Afghanistan. The president is moving to raise that to about sixty-eight thousand by the end of the year.

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