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Afghan war can't be won: commander
Pushes deal with Taliban
By: Jill Lawless

LONDON-The senior British commander in Afghanistan says that a decisive military victory there is impossible and the Taliban may well be part of a long-term solution for the country.

The Sunday Times newspaper quotes Brig.-Gen. Mark Carleton-Smith as saying that the alliance is not going to win the war.

He says the issue now is about reducing the war to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army.

Gen. Carleton-Smith says the alliance may well leave Afghanistan while there is still a low but steady rural insurgency. He also said a deal with the Taliban might be on the table.

The British commander says that if the Taliban is prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, that's the sort of progress that could conclude the insurgency.

Although Britain and its NATO allies are engaged in a fierce campaign against Taliban militants in Afghanistan, British officials have voiced interest in trying to talk the Taliban into laying down their arms and joining the government.

On Saturday, the British gov't. denied a claim that the UK believes the military campaign in Afghanistan is doomed to failure, after a French newspaper reported that London's ambassador to Kabul had said foreign troops added to the countries woes.

On Wednesday, France's weekly Le Canard Enchaine published what it said was a leaked French diplomat cable recounting talks between Britain's Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles and a French official.

The newspaper said the French cable reported that Cowper-Coles had said Afghanistan might best be "governed by an acceptable dictator" and that the cable quoted him as saying foreign troops were adding to the country's problems by helping shore up a failing government in Kabul.

Cowper-Coles was quoted as saying that "the American strategy is destined to fail" and that the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan was "part of the problem, not the solution."

The prospect of a dictatorship "is the only realistic one and we must get public opinion to accept it," the report quotes the alleged cable as saying.

The newspaper, a weekly publication known for its investigative stories, published excerpts of the cable, including a passage that quotes the British ambassador as criticizing both U.S. presidential candidates over pledges to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

"It is the American presidential candidates who must be dissuaded from getting further bogged down in Afghanistan," an extract of the cable quoted Cowper-Coles as saying.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said the content of the alleged cable "doesn't correspond at all with what we hear from our British counterparts in our discussions on Afghanistan."

-The Associated Press


 

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NDP was right about Afghan war, says Layton
By: Tara Brautigam


ST.JOHN'S, N.L.-A warning from Britain's most senior military commander that the Afghanistan war cannot be won and may only be resolved through peace talks involving the Taliban validates the NDP's position on the conflict, party leader Jack Layton said sunday.

Layton, campaigning Sunday in St. John's, said Brig.-Gen. Mark Carleton-Smith's assessment echoes the view of his party and many voters who want Canada's troops out of the war-ravaged country.

"I'm heartened by the words of this senior military commander who is adding his voice to those many, many Canadians and others around the world who believe that the prosecution of the continued war effort has got to be changed," Layton said.

Defense Minister Peter MacKay repeated the Conservative government's position that any negotiations with the Taliban must be led by the Afghan gov't.

He said Layton was wrong to interpret Carleton-Smith's opinion as support for the NDP's stance.

"Jack's off base as he is on so many issues," said MacKay, who was also in St.John's to shore up support for the Conservatives.

MacKay did not say whether he agreed that the war was unwinnable.

John Manley, who led a non-partisan panel on Canada's current and future military role in Afghanistan, said he wasn't surprised by Carleton-Smith's comments because the panel came to a similiar conclusion in January.

THE TALIBAN MOVEMENT IS NOT A MONOLITHIC ENTITY AND THERE ARE PEOPLE BEHIND THE INSURGENCY WHO CAN BE PERSUADED THERE IS A NONVIOLENT WAY TO END THE WAR, MANLEY SAID.

"When you use decapitation as a method of persuasion, it's hard to find common ground with those people, but we shouldn't allow ourselves to go down the road thinking that's the only group that's out there," Manley told CTV on Sunday. "There are a lot that are different from that and we need to build bridges with them."

Manley said members of NATO and the United Nations must be engaged, emphasizing that Pakistan's involvement in a settlement would be critical for peace to be lasting.

Two years ago, Layton was derided for suggesting there should be a dialogue with the Taliban.

That prompted the Conservatives to label Layton "Taliban Jack."

-The Canadian Press

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Petraeus focuses his sights on Afghanistan

The Economist

In less than 2 years Gen. David Petraeus has become the most admired American general of recent times. His success in overseeing America's military surge in Iraq, reversing the country's descent into a sectarian bloodbath, has earned him praise from both contenders in America's presidential race.

He is a "great general" in the view of John McCain, and has "done a brilliant job" according to Barack Obama. Given his intelligence, ambition and deft handling of the media, the general is talked of as a possible future president.


First, though, he has some more soldiering to do. As he left Iraq to take over Central Command later this month, presiding over operations from Egypt to Afghanistan, his views will do much to shape the course of the "war on terror" under the next president.

He faces a persistent question: can his Iraqi success be replicated in Afghanistan?

As security has improved in Iraq, it has worsened in Afghanistan. And as the surge of forces comes to an end in Iraq, there are calls for a similiar one in Afghanistan. In its dying days, the Bush administration has ordered a full review of policy in Afghanistan.

Gen. Petraeus took part in lengthy high-level meetings in London and Paris last month, and in August he brainstormed with Pakistan's top brass on an American aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.

He says his tactics in Iraq cannot simply be transposed to Afghanistan. Indeed, there are big differences: Iraq is far richer, has a greater density of both American and local forces, its command is more unified, and insurgents enjoy nothing like the cross-border safe havens that the Taliban has in Pakistan's tribal belt.

The scale of any surge in Afghanistan will depend on the speed of withdrawal from Iraq. A brigade originally destined for Iraq early next year will be diverted to Afghanistan. But commanders in Afghanistan have asked for three more brigades on top of that.

Having built his reputation in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus will resist a big withdrawal from the country that risks endangering his hard-won achievements. The progress in Iraq, he says, is still fragile and reversible; he will probably want to keep a substantial American presence there at least until 2010.

In Afghanistan, for now, the Americans are trying to make better use of the troops they have. Gen. David McKiernan, the NATO commander, is in the process of being "double-hatted" as commander of America's seperate and more muscular "Operation Enduring Freedom."

He will also oversee the training of Afghan forces. This should ensure greater unity of command, though some American special forces, whose actions have at times caused controversy over the death of civilians, will continue to operate separately.

NATO is still plagued by the reluctance of many allies to join the fight and the inability of others to bring more resources. The Dutch and Canadians are expected to stop fighting in the next 2 years.

America has belatedly decided to support the expansion of the Afghan army from 80,000 to 130,000 (still far smaller than Iraq's). Allies that don't supply troops or equipment will be asked for money, trainers and advisers for the Afghan army.

In Iraq, the surge's success was not just due to extra forces. Political changes were crucial, especially the decision by Sunni tribes to switch sides and the cease-fire declared by the biggest Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army.

For Gen. Petraeus, this virtuous circle was not a matter of luck but sustained by a transformation in military doctrine that he developed when he ran the army's think tank at Fort Leavenworth, published in a new counter-insurgency manual in December 2006 and implemented when he took command in Iraq soon after. Soldiers were told their priority was not just to find and kill terrorists but to protect and win over the civilians.

Gen. Petraeus's thinking on counter-insurgency is distilled in 25 pithy maxims, the latest version of which was issued in July. It tells subordinates that "the Iraqi people are the decisive terrain" and that soldiers must live among them and patrol on foot: "You can't commute to this fight."

Force alone cannot succeed: "We cannot kill our way out of this endeavor." Instead, insurgents must gradually be crushed from all directions-military, intelligence, politics, development, the media and much more. He calls this the Anaconda Strategy. Quoting Seneca the Younger, he says, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Much of this thinking has been tried by American forces in Afghanistan, but a shortage of resources, poor coordination and unrest in Pakistan have helped send Afghanistan on a downward spiral.

Noting the recent fighting by Pakistan's army in the Bajaur tribal region, Gen. Petraeus has expressed his belief - perhaps just a hope - that the country's leaders are ready to deal with violent militants as a mortal threat to Pakistan itself, not just to Afghanistan.

He has also let it be known that he sees promise in trying to woo "reconcilable" Afghan tribes, as he did with the "awakening" of Sunni tribes in Iraq.

But success in Afghanistan is uncertain and could take many years. The general has probably yet to work out a strategy for his new area. But his own principles conclude with a warning. "Never forget that what works in an area today may not work there tomorrow, and that what works in one area may not work in another." 



   

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I thought you guys were not allowed around Harry Potter books either.