British Army Chief now publicly admits that the Taliban will never be defeated in Afghanistan
fraeoldb...@gmail.com
October 5, 2008
War on Taliban cannot be won, says army chief
Christina Lamb Helmand, Afghanistan
Britain's most senior military commander in Afghanistan has warned
that the war against the Taliban cannot be won. Brigadier Mark
Carleton-Smith said the British public should not expect a “decisive
military victory” but should be prepared for a possible deal with the
Taliban.
His assessment followed the leaking of a memo from a French diplomat
who claimed that Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador in
Kabul, had told him the current strategy was “doomed to fail”.
Carleton-Smith, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, which has just
completed its second tour of Afghanistan, said it was necessary to
“lower our expectations”. He said: “We’re not going to win this war.
It’s about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that’s not
a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army.”
The brigadier added: “We may well leave with there still being a low
but steady ebb of rural insurgency . . . I don’t think we should
expect that when we go there won’t be roaming bands of armed men in
this part of the world. That would be unrealistic and probably
incredible.”
Carleton-Smith insisted that his forces had “taken the sting out of
the Taliban for 2008”. But his brigade has sustained heavy losses in
the southern province of Helmand in the past six months, with 32
killed and 170 injured. In an interview with The Sunday Times, he
added his voice to a growing number of people arguing that the
conflict in Afghanistan could be resolved only through a political
settlement that could include the Taliban.
“We want to change the nature of the debate from one where disputes
are settled through the barrel of the gun to one where it is done
through negotiations,” Carleton-Smith said.
“If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table
and talk about a political settlement, then that’s precisely the sort
of progress that concludes insurgencies like this. That shouldn’t make
people uncomfortable.”
Last week Gulab Mangal, the governor of Helmand, said the Taliban
controlled more than half the province despite the increased presence
of British forces.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4882597.ece
Loaf of Bread
[snip]
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4882597.ece
My defeatist roving socialist fruitcake Robert Peffers jumps on
something by another defeatist.
Typical.
GaryRock
GR
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