Jonathan Steele: Nato is deeper in its Afghan mire than Russia ever was | Comment is free | The Guardian

Jonathan Steele: Nato is deeper in its Afghan mire than Russia ever was Comment is free The Guardian:

"Nato is deeper in its Afghan mire than Russia ever wasTwo decades after the Soviet withdrawal, ever more resources are being poured into a war with scant chance of success"

"...Nato is in a cleft stick and the idea that, unlike Iraq, Afghanistan is the "right war" is a self-deluding trap. A military "surge", the favoured Obama policy, may produce short-term local advances but no sustainable improvement, and as yesterday's Guardian reported, it will cost the US and Britain enormous sums. Pouring in aid will take too long to win hearts and minds, and if normal practice is followed, the money will mainly go to foreign consultants and corrupt officials. Talking to the Taliban makes sense under Najibullah-style national reconciliation. But the Taliban themselves are disunited, with a host of local leaders and generational divisions between "new" and "old" Taliban. Worse still, since the war spilt into Pakistan's frontier regions, there are now Pakistani Taliban...."

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