Europe’s Revolving Door in Afghanistan

Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Inside a German army camp in Kunduz, Afghanistan.




Europeans are fighting in Afghanistan, but they are less and less sure why. President Obama, by his long process of self-examination on Afghanistan and his decision to ramp up troops in pursuit of an exit, has bought himself 18 months or so, senior European diplomats say.

The war is deeply unpopular among the European public, who do not easily accept the notion that their security is on the line in Kandahar or along the Hindu Kush. Still, key European members of the NATO alliance have agreed to go to the well one more time and stump up several thousand more troops for Afghanistan, with France and Germany the noted holdouts.

But after a European-sponsored conference on Afghanistan scheduled for London on Jan. 28, to assess Afghan progress and to discuss new pledges of support and aid, both Germany and France are expected to also increase their troop commitments. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, however, with key regional elections in March, may decide to wait until they are over, especially since he announced that not one more French solider would go to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan under Mr. Obama has increasingly become an American war, with what was once a rough equality of American and NATO troops becoming more than 2 to 1 American. Still, having declared Afghanistan an Article 5 conflict after the attacks of 9/11 — committing NATO to the defense of a member nation, in this case, the United States — NATO members regard some measure of success in Afghanistan as crucial to the health and credibility of the alliance, and have pledged, according to NATO, some 7,000 more troops from 25 nations.

The Italians and Poles have come up with 1,000 more troops each, Britain 500 more. But almost 2,000 of the 7,000 will come from countries outside the alliance (including Australia, South Korea, Sweden and aspiring NATO members, Georgia, Ukraine, Macedonia and Montenegro).

At the same time, there is an element of filling a cup with a hole in the bottom. The Netherlands will withdraw its 2,200 troops in the course of 2010; Canada, with 2,800, will be leaving by 2011. That means as American troop levels rise from 68,000 to 98,000 by next summer, allied troop levels are not likely to go much higher than the present 38,000.

American generals regard the European contributions as helpful, but not overwhelmingly so — too many nations, too many small contingents, too many special rules and conditions on how each nation’s soldiers are able to fight the war. But the more Europeans there are, to provide support and security and training for the woeful Afghan army and police, the more the Americans can concentrate on the tough battles and most contested regions.

Source:atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/

Rock the Taliban, train the, Afghan police force, and army

President Obama's address on Afghanistan was a very good speech expressing a very good strategy.

The strategy is neither an open commitment nor a walk-away, fitting the best interests of the U.S. We cannot afford to pay for or get bogged down in a nation-building exercise that all experts say would take 10 years or more, if ever. It is enough to make a serious attempt to rock the Taliban, give enough space to the trainers to develop an Afghan police force and army and assist Pakistan with the border areas. If it succeeds, great. If not, there's Plan B. Depending on conditions, it would entail a slow withdrawal mixed with the Biden strategy of letting the Afghans govern themselves on condition that the U.S., NATO and the United Nations can intervene to the extent necessary to kill or capture any Al- Qaeda-like elements that our intelligence can identify, together with an independent Pakistan strategy that is probably being worked on.

This is not World War II, when the boys came home after the Germans and Japanese were defeated. The use of dates a) puts the pressure on the Afghans who don't want us to occupy their country and are as opposed as we to the intolerance of the Taliban, to unite against them, and b) resembles the deadlines in Iraq (demanded by the Iraqis and acquiesced to by George Bush). Of course, that won't stop the Republicans from screaming about the deadlines.

Mr. Obama spoke to the country non-condescendingly, mentioning the cost and limits of power as well as the lofty goals of America, here and historically. He avoided the sort of simplistic, full-throated cry for an undefined and unobtainable "victory," which Dick Cheney still uses to rouse the radical right. It reminded me once again that we have an adult in the White House.

BRUCE MCALLISTER

Palm Beach

Victory needed in war, not lengthy operations

To quote Sun Tzu in The Art of War, "What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations." This is pretty old stuff (sixth-century B.C.) for so many presidents and generals to have ignored or forgotten this sensible advice.

DAVID SPIELBERG

Palm Beach Gardens

Integrate long-term care with home care

A recent letter writer mentioned House Concurrent Resolution 59, co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton. It supports the goals and ideals for senior caregiving and affordability. It passed the House 387-0. Congress must take this important first step to address the looming age-wave crisis that could jeopardize the independence of millions of seniors.

I would also like to bring attention to House Resolution 791. The bill would express the House of Representatives' commitment to: (1) integrating long-term care, particularly as it relates to home care and community services, into a comprehensive health care reform agenda; and (2) aiding relevant parties in composing, executing, and enforcing a well-informed national strategy for long-term care that will address geographic and economic disparities that limit access to care, expand long-term health services, and streamline quality measures.

It also would recognize the need to: (1) collaborate with local, state, and federal health care entities to improve working conditions and training for home health aides; and (2) adequately fund and support existing technologies, entities, and initiatives that assist informal caregivers and help maintain and improve long-term health services for the disabled and elderly.

JEWEL LITTENBERG

Atlantis

Soft schedule cheats Gator players and fans

The article about the University of Florida's football recruiting class of 2006 omits a rather significant fact: These athletes have been cheated of the challenge to see how good they really could have been because UF scheduled soft nonconference opposition and because of mediocre conference foes, and its fans are cheated as well.

The University of Florida's penchant for scheduling cream puffs is a tradition. UF has never wanted to play the best. It last played Texas in 1940 (one touchdown in three games, shut out the last two) and has played the other top five winningest programs only in bowl games, never voluntarily in the regular season. The NCAA basketball tournament selection process requires teams to play rigorous schedules. The BCS process in football encourages them not to.

JAY MARGOLIS

Boynton Beach

Source:palmbeachpost.com/

Fears for anti-Taliban push as graft fracas engulfs Pakistan

Retired general and analyst Talat Masood said that there would be repercussions if the implicated politicians were determined to hold onto their portfolios and engage in lengthy court battles. 'A swift way out of the crisis would be for the implicated ministers to resign or a cabinet reshuffle take place.' –APP/ File photo



ISLAMABAD: A Supreme Court ruling quashing a corruption amnesty protecting politicians has thrown nuclear-armed Pakistan into turmoil as the nation's allies want it to focus on battling militants, analysts say.

Late Thursday, the defence minister was barred from leaving the country, the first fallout from a court decision striking down a 2007 law protecting people including President Asif Ali Zardari and reviving old graft cases.

The travel ban sparked Pakistan's ambassador in Washington to deny a coup looming in a nation that only emerged from a long spell of military rule last year and has been battered by political turmoil and surging Islamist violence.

Although analysts said whispers of a coup were completely unfounded, the havoc created by the ruling will unnerve Islamabad's Western backers, who have put Pakistan at the heart of the global fight against Al-Qaeda.

‘It undermines the reputation of the political elite... and uncertainty at this stage causes concern at the international level,’ said Hasan Askari, a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University.

‘The international community's major concern is how far the internal developments and political wrangling between the government and opposition would affect Pakistan's capacity to address terrorism and related issues.’

Pakistan launched multiple offensives against Taliban and other militants in the northwest this year, trying to quell an insurgency that has killed more than 2,700 people since the rebellion intensified in July 2007.

But US President Barack Obama's administration has been heaping pressure on Pakistan to also go after groups such as the Haqqani Network, the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who target foreign troops in Afghanistan.

They have carved out sanctuaries in the lawless and rugged northwest tribal belt -- branded the most dangerous place in the world by Washington -- where they train and regroup before crossing the porous border to Afghanistan.

Political columnist Shafqat Mahmood said that so far, there was little sign that Pakistan's war on the militants was suffering.

‘The security apparatus, which is the military, is fairly autonomous so any kind of political back and forth and court cases will occupy the political class but it won't affect the security situation,’ he said.

But retired general and analyst Talat Masood said that there would be repercussions if the implicated politicians were determined to hold onto their portfolios and engage in lengthy court battles.

‘That will result in an uncertainty as to how the government will eventually shape and during this transitional period there would be difficulties as far as governance and security issues are concerned,’ he told AFP.

‘Logistics, financial allocations, the running of the country, the ownership of the war, the morale, attending to those people who are displaced and wounded -- all that has a very direct bearing on the economy, on everything.’

Askari said there were also positive aspects to the ruling, as it showed Pakistan had an independent judiciary willing to tackle high-level corruption.

The amnesty -- called the National Reconciliation Ordinance -- was passed in October 2007 by then-president General Pervez Musharraf, who was under pressure to hold elections and end about eight years of military rule.

It quashed charges against a number of politicians including Zardari and the current interior and defence ministers to allow them to stand for office.

A swift way out of the crisis would be for the implicated ministers to resign or a cabinet reshuffle take place, Masood said.

For the moment, Zardari remains protected from old graft cases because his position gives him immunity from prosecution but the opposition are calling for his resignation and his eligibility for the presidency could also be challenged in court.

Such legal cases could drag on for months but at the moment, columnist Mahmood said, Zardari seemed determined to ‘fight to the bitter end’. –AFP

Source:dawn.com/