( dpa ) - NATO had the upper hand in Afghanistan and was there for the extended future, NATO's head General Jaap de Hooop Scheffer said Friday at the White House.
The NATO secretary general met with US President George W Bush for 45 minutes, where the need for more troops in Afghanistan was billed at the top of the agenda, a White House spokesman said before the meeting.
NATO is in Afghanistan "for the long haul" and "we are prevailing," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters after the meeting.
The men talked about adding countries to the NATO coalition and about US plans to install a missile defence system in Czech Republic and Poland to ward off rogue attacks from Iran and elsewhere on Europe.
Bush said they also talked about helping NATO to stay "relevant" in the 21st century.
The topic of more troops for Afghanistan is also likely to be discussed when Bush meets later Friday with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will be accompanying Bush to his private ranch in Texas for the weekend.
The United States is frustrated by the unwillingness of NATO allies to send troops into hostile areas, and US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates has recently been making the case quite strongly and openly over recent months.
Canada has proposed pulling its troops back from the front lines unless more countries are forthcoming with troops in combat areas.
There is a "need for more trainers to help set up the Afghan army and Afghan police," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said before the two men met.
The US has 26,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, to be boosted to 30,000 in March with new troops. The main brunt of the fighting is carried by US, British, Danish, Dutch and Canadian troops.
Democratic presidential nominee hopeful Barack Obama has also called for more support from NATO allies in Afghanistan, media reports said.
NATO foreign ministers are due to meet in Brussels next week, where the issue of Afghanistan is likely to be an important item of discussion.