NATO on Thursday sidestepped U.S. calls for an expanded role in Iraq and instead reaffirmed its focus on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Colin Powell told NATO foreign ministers meeting here that he hoped the alliance would ”examine how it might do more to support peace and stability in Iraq.” But Powell told a news conference that the Bush administration understood the alliance’s preoccupation with Afghanistan. The 5,500-member peacekeeping force there is NATO’s first mission outside Europe. Taliban forces ousted from power by the United States two years ago have regrouped and have been intensifying their attacks lately. Full Story