NATO chief — Afghan switch to Taliban is understandable
The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said
Sunday he “would understand” if many Afghans switched their
allegiance back to the Taliban due to the failure of international forces to
deliver needed improvements.
The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said Sunday he “would understand” if many Afghans switched their allegiance back to the Taliban due to the failure of international forces to deliver needed improvements.
“By this time next year I would understand if a lot of Afghans, down in the south in particular, said to us all, ‘Listen, you’re failing year after year at delivering the improvements which you have promised to us. And if you don’t do something about it,’ that 70 percent or so will start saying, ‘Come on, we’d rather have the Taliban.’”
Since ousting the Taliban, U.S. and international forces have faced complaints that badly needed basic services are not being provided to large parts of Afghanistan. Soldiers have continued to battle insurgents, including remnants of the Taliban.
U.S. forces have helped build the new Afghan military and steadily hand over power authority to NATO forces. Last week, authority in the east was transferred from the U.S.-led coalition to ISAF at a ceremony in the capital, Kabul. ISAF has more than 30,000 troops serving in Afghanistan, more than a third of them U.S. forces.
I wonder what next week’s excuses from Washington will be — passing off similarities between our government’s policies in Afghanistan and the parallel failure of the USSR in the same nation. Of course, there is one distinct difference — the USSR didn’t also try to fight another much larger war in another Middle Eastern nation at the same time.
Posted: Mon - October 9, 2006 at 06:29 AM