From the Wall Street Journal: The Obama administration is in advanced talks with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for a coordinated rollout of a new Afghan war strategy, which U.S. officials hope will include a commitment by European allies to send several thousand additional troops.

U.S. and European estimates of the new troops they may get from NATO allies vary from 3,000 to 7,000. Those would complement the additional U.S. forces Mr. Obama is considering; those options range from 10,000 to 40,000, but U.S. officials have said a combination of combat troops and training forces totaling 35,000 has gained the most momentum…

U.S. and European officials acknowledged the Obama administration’s relations with NATO allies have become strained over Afghan policy during the White House’s three-month review of war strategy, with allies irritated they were not getting enough insight into U.S. plans.

But officials said attitudes have changed markedly in recent weeks as senior U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor James Jones and special representative Richard Holbrooke, have fanned out to European capitals.

“They’re in a much better place today than they were three weeks ago with NATO,” said a former senior U.S. official who has discussed Afghan policy with both sides. “The tenor of the conversations has changed.” (photo: AFP)