British Commander Says War in Afghanistan Cannot Be Won; 10,000 Protest in Germany

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW editor, second from left, speaks at anti-war forum, March 17, 2007. To his right is Andrea Egypt of MECAWI, with panelists from the Windsor Peace Coalition on each side.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

British commander says war in Afghanistan cannot be won

Britain's commander in Afghanistan has said the war against the Taliban cannot be won, the Sunday Times reported.

It quoted Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith as saying in an interview that if the Taliban were willing to talk, then that might be "precisely the sort of progress" needed to end the insurgency.

"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," he said.

He said his forces had "taken the sting out of the Taliban for 2008" but that troops may well leave Afghanistan with there still being a low level of insurgency.

But Afghanistan's Defense Minister expressed his disappointment on Sunday at the commander's statements, maintaining the insurgency had to be defeated.

"I think this is the personal opinion of that commander," Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters.

"The main objective of the Afghan government and the whole international community is that we have to defeat this war of terror and be successful," he said.

Wardak said success also depended on how British forces were approaching the problems they faced in Helmand but did not say whether their current strategy was the right one.

Asked if the commander's comments came as a disappointment, Wardak said: "Yes, it is disappointing, for sure."

Britain has around 8,000 troops based in Afghanistan, most of them in the volatile southern province of Helmand, where they face daily battles with a growing insurgency.

NO NEGOTIATIONS WITH "INVADERS"

NATO commanders and diplomats have been saying for some time that the Taliban insurgency cannot be defeated by military means alone and that negotiations with the militants will ultimately be needed to bring an end to the conflict.

"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," Carleton-Smith said. "That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."

But a spokesman for the Taliban said on Sunday there would be no negotiations with foreigners and repeated calls made by Taliban commanders for the unconditional withdrawal of the more than 70,000 international troops from Afghanistan.

"They should know that Taliban will never hold talks with the invaders," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told the Pakistan-based Afghan news agency, AIP.

"What we had said in the past, we also say once again, that foreign forces should leave without any condition," he said.

Violence in Afghanistan has increased to its worst level since 2001, when U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the ruling Taliban following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said last week he had asked the king of Saudi Arabia to mediate in talks with the insurgents and called on Taliban leader Mullah Omar to return to his homeland and to make peace.

(Writing by Myra MacDonald; additional reporting by Jonathon Burch in Kabul; Editing by Valerie Lee)


10,000 in Germany protest Afghanistan war

Published Oct 4, 2008 12:01 AM

More than 10,000 protesters took to the streets of Germany’s capital Berlin and the southern metropolis Stuttgart on Sept. 17 to demand the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan.

All surveys and opinion polls show that a majority of people living in Germany oppose the country’s massive participation in the illegal occupation of Afghanistan, although only a minority in the Bundestag (Parliament) reflect this position. Here, the demonstrators from the Left Party carry a banner that reads: “Federal Army out of Afghanistan.”

Many of the NATO countries are participating in the occupation of Afghanistan, even if their governments refused to join the occupation of Iraq or have withdrawn from Iraq. In these countries the anti-war movement focuses on demands that the troops be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Beside this protest in Germany, there is another set for Canada, whose troops have taken relatively heavy casualties. The Canadian Peace Alliance and Collectif Échec à la Guerre are calling for a pan-Canadian day of action on Oct. 18 to end the war in Afghanistan and bring Canadian troops home.

—John Catalinotto