Posted on 07/21/2006 7:33:36 PM PDT by blam
Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general
· Nato commander's view in stark contrast to ministers'
· Forces short of equipment and 'running out of time'
Richard Norton-Taylor
Saturday July 22, 2006
The Guardian (UK)
British soldiers on patrol in Sangin, Helmand province. Photograph: Cpl Rob Knight/MoD/PA
The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan yesterday described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption. The stark warning came from Lieutenant General David Richards, head of Nato's international security force in Afghanistan, who warned that western forces there were short of equipment and were "running out of time" if they were going to meet the expectations of the Afghan people.
The assumption within Nato countries had been that the environment in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban in 2002 would be benign, Gen Richards said. "That is clearly not the case," he said yesterday. He referred to disputes between tribes crossing the border with Pakistan, and divisions between religious and secular factions cynically manipulated by "anarcho-warlords".
Corrupt local officials were fuelling the problem and Nato's provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan were sending out conflicting signals, Gen Richards told a conference at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "The situation is close to anarchy," he said, referring in particular to what he called "the lack of unity between different agencies".
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
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pong
I don't care about this article from the Guardian, but I am concerned about Afghanistan.
I'm not sure there is enough of a nucleus there to structure a nation out of, or any kind of a coherent mass.
You have to be willing to go out there and kill the enemy. The biggest problem NATO forces have is they have ROEs that are a joke and the governments of Italy, France, ect act like they are peacekeepers instead of warfighters.
One of the biggest problems we have had in Iraq is for political reasons I believe we have been far too gun shy when it comes to using our soldiers in operations, especially against pro-Iranian militias. Of course more troops I also beleve would help both Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Guardian has been predicting the demise of Afghanistan long before we launched an attack. Have they once given an optimistic assessment?
Don't waste the time researching.
I don't think there ever will be, no matter what anyone does.
Let's see. We get Karzai installed as President, then he wants to try our soldiers for excessive force.
What is wrong with this picture?
When is this Admin going to wake up that we do not have good muslim friends. Musharraf is an ally, to be sure, but friend. I don't think so.
So, who are our muslim friends? Can't find any?
Didn't think so. Therefore, we must treat the muslims as they would treat us if they could
DHIMMI! They bow at our feet, kiss our feet and keep their mouths shut or lose their heads.
Afghanistan is not only NOT close to anarchy, but the Guardian is a fraud of a paper.
Its a bit like being friends with Nazis to be honest. The Schindlers are few and far between.
another cut and run Lib.
People unclear on the concept...
Allawi was secular and a good friend of the US, but Bush renigged on his promise of 50 million to help his campaign, however Iran did not renig on their 100 million they sent to religious pro-Iranian candidates.
Allawi was secular!
You hit the nail on the head. He not on a religious leash.
To paraphrase the "Godfather", "Is he a business man. We can do business if he is a business man. Otherwise...(and he nods to his left)."
Allawi had enough of his own problems with his own history in and out of Iraq. Not that he was a real rat, just that he upset lots of friends and enemies over the years and many of them just wouldn't step up and support him. Ideas, plans, intelligence - those things do no matter in the current Iraqi environment. The country is at war, the government is being formed under the gun and political jostling for position is the rule of the day.
Isn't Afghanistan always on the verge of anarchy?
Got any better idea?
There never was any infrastructure! I've flown all over Afghanistan and there's nothing but clusters of mud huts everywhere with a few larger towns along the way. There are hardly any highways or roads, just paths. The place is truly stuck in the Dark Ages.
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