LONDON: Britain’s commander in Afghanistan has said the war against the Taleban cannot be won, the Sunday Times reported. It quoted Brig. Mark Carleton-Smith as saying in an interview that if the Taleban 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 Taleban 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 yesterday 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.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Taleban said yesterday there would be no negotiations with foreigners and repeated calls made by Taleban commanders for the unconditional withdrawal of the more than 70,000 international troops from Afghanistan.
