Do peace deal with Taleban, Britain told

[ECH1969]

THE British will never win in Afghanistan by military means and should open negotiations with the Taleban, according to the former leader of Pakistan’s forces in the border areas. On the eve of a Nato summit in Riga at which member nations will be urged to send more troops, Lieutenant-General Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai, who led Pakistan’s hunt for Al Qaeda until 2004 and is now governor of North West Frontier province, said: “Bring 50,000 more troops and fight for 10 to 15 years more and you won’t resolve it. The British with their history in Afghanistan should have known that better than anyone else.”

In the past three years Nato has more than doubled its troops in Afghanistan to 43,000, making it its biggest mission. Almost half are American and last week Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander, General James L Jones, said that he was about 15 short of requirements. He said that failure to provide more men would make the mission longer and more costly.

Despite months of lobbying by Britain and the US, Foreign Office officials say it is extremely unlikely that the two-day summit in the Latvian capital will produce more troops. Countries are particularly reluctant to commit to the turbulent south where British and Canadian forces have suffered heavy casualties.

Aurakzai said: “Nato are ignoring the realities on the ground. The reason Taleban numbers have swelled is because moderates are joining the militants. It is no longer an insurgency but a war of Pashtun resistance exactly on the model of the first Anglo-Afghan War.”

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/commentary/commentaryother.asp?file=novembercommentary762006.xml

[DavidDvorkin]

1. "The British with their history in Afghanistan"

It's depressing how rare it is for great powers to learn from their own history, let alone from the history of others.

[Igel]

2. If it's a Pakhtun resistance,

then it's not imperalism and they wouldn't mind sharing Afghanistan with the non-Pakhtuns.

Of course, the previous incarnation of Pakhtun pride involved killing Hazaras and Tadjiks. I'm assuming that Aurakzai is Pakhtun, with the Islam that implies. Probably got his spurs under ul-Haq.

[Disturbed]

3. Democracy with a small "d".

Is it such a radical idea to allow the Taliban to have a political party and run candidates?