David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Friday 03 October, 2008

Afghanistan: Canard by name....

Afghanistan and its neighbour Pakistan have been top of my agenda since last year. They were top of the agenda in talks this week with General Petraeus. And he got a more accurate representation of UK concerns than the garbled reports in the French Private Eye Le Canard Enchaîné.

The future of Afghanistan is not about appointed dictators or foreign occupation; it is about building Afghan capabilities with the confidence of the Afghan people. This is a long haul - and it would not be possible without international aid workers, diplomats and soldiers. But they need strong partners nationally and locally in Afghanistan. And as I wrote last week, one bright spot is the new relationship at Presidential level with Pakistan.

Posted at 11:16 03 October 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[4]

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Two leaks from the government in one week. It really is like the titanic.

Posted by Francis on October 03, 2008 at 01:19 PM BST #

Most Canadians, apparently, want Canada out of Afghanistan or atleast out of our military role there. Some or much of that I think is suspician regarding the US motivation for being there. and anyway The message we are getting is that the NATO mission isnt working. Stephen Harper has stated that if elected he will end our military? obligation there in 2011 which is I guess what we negotiated. This is for mostly political reasons , I think. he wants his majority Im not sure what his stance on any humanitarian or rebuliding efforts we might be helping to provide there. Jack Layton, leader of the NDP,kind of like Britains labour wants us to pull out immediately. Im not sure if that is conviction or politics or both. Any thoughts on Canadas role in Afghanistan?

Posted by Steve Mc on October 04, 2008 at 04:49 AM BST #

David, you will not solve this problem with bombs and bullets. The Taliban are continously gaining in support because the US keeps bombing villages and killing civilians. Why can't you not see this connection? The US is also wanting Pakistan to support them in massive military operations in the Pakistani regions which are dominated by the Taliban. Such a operation will likely cause a massive refugee crisis. Do you honestly believe that Britain will ever gain the confidence of the Afghan people? The international community ,whoever they are, have delevered nothing for the Afghan people. Why do you think people are turning to the Taliban? Maybe because British strategy has failed. And British strategy has failed because it is tied to US strategy which is based on overuse of military power. I think this 'war on terror' is a convenient method of ensuring that the US and UK puppets keeps a military presense in that region. And the stronger the Taliban get the stronger the reason to stay.

Posted by Jo on October 04, 2008 at 11:42 AM BST #

and, I forgot to mention that the Green Party here wants to end the NATO backed misson in Afghanistan and instead replace it with a UN backed misson with lots of countries including Islamic countries to fight the Taliban. and wants Canada to foucus its efforts in humanitarian ways i think...dont quote me on that : . I dont know if you guys follow Canadian poltics or not but Elizabeth May is the politician that is currently capturing Canadians hearts I think it s fair to say that if not their votes. I think that if she were the liberal leader she could probably beat Harper and maybe even form a majority and if she were the NDP leader she could probably form a minority. But it is partly her 'green' conviction that makes her so popular. She might not be so popular as leader of the other parties. but she is also a strong communicator and her parties other policies have captured interest here too. I could see the NDP and the Greens forming a coalition with her as the leader and doing some serious damage to the liberals and definitely the conservatives just my opinion . and People say politics is hostile to women? maybe but its more complicated then we are being led to believe

Posted by Steve Mc. on October 04, 2008 at 09:56 PM BST #

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