Obama Requests Help to Pay for Yet Another Enemie's Army

By ANNE GEARAN
Thu, May 17, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mapping the way out of an unpopular war, the United States and NATO are trying to build an Afghan army that can defend the country after 130,000 international troops pull out.

Support for Afghanistan's military will be a focus of the summit President Barack Obama is hosting Sunday and Monday in Chicago.

The problem with the exit strategy is paying for that army in an era of austerity budgets. The problem for the United States is how to avoid getting stuck with the check for $4.1 billion a year.

That's partly why many non-NATO nations are getting invitations to the summit. About 60 countries and organizations are expected to be represented.

More than 20 nations have already agreed to help, and more are expected to do so in Chicago.