David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Tuesday 07 October, 2008

Progress, setbacks, and what counts as "winning" in Afghanistan

The attempt to twist what UK Commander Brigadier Carleton Smith has said about the situation in Afghanistan is a real pity.  His comments are an honest and compelling attempt to engage with the reality of how to deal with a counter-insurgency.  Defeating the Taleban's attempt to usurp the government of Afghanistan is a vital project; in seven years it has made real progress; but it is not the same as killing every Taleban; and it comes at a cost in human life and also setbacks.  The Taleban have suffered serious military defeats but they retain the power to attack on an insurgent and deadly basis.  These are all part of Afghanistan's complexity.  Success means the Afghan people building the institutions that will sustain themselves and preserve their (and our) security

Posted at 17:47 07 October 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[6]

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All very well and good but the fact is that fighting the conflict in purely military terms is a recipie for a quagmire; infrastructure needs support and while the focus remains on the military that is going to suffer.....

Posted by Darrell Goodliffe on October 07, 2008 at 06:56 PM BST #

Mr. Smith does make a good point regarding Afghanistan question. If we are going to win hearts & minds he needs to build up the Afghanistan government so that Afghanistan people could have a say to their government as we do here in the United Kingdom. I am aware that Saudi State are speaking at some level with the Taleban maybe it's time to speak with the Taleban, find out how Taleban can be Inside Afghanistan Government.

Posted by Mr. Mohamud Ali Madar on October 08, 2008 at 01:40 AM BST #

The UK Commander was pretty unequivocal in what he said, Foreign Secretary. "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". Surely then, winning would mean strengthening the capacity of the Afghan army to a level where they can assume full control of their country's security and the UK can then reduce its own level of troops. I am not advocating a premature withdrawal, but it seems that British leaders are rather less inclined to listen to our military commanders than our US counterparts, where figures such as General Petraeus are listened to by the Bush administration. When is the Labour government going to give an answer on whether it will provide monthly reports to parliament on the progress in Afghanistan?

Posted by Sholto Moger on October 08, 2008 at 08:13 AM BST #

I notice his comments were used as the basis of one of the main questions in last night's US Presidential election debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Posted by Justin on October 08, 2008 at 03:55 PM BST #

Using the term "Taliban" loosely is dangerous. If the intention is to co-opt tribal leaders, in an effort to assert political control over the process of nation-building in Afghanistan, then use "tribal leaders". Using "Taliban" means dealing with "students" Talib produced by Islamic madrasahs. In which case, please study the curriculum of these madrasahs - which do not focus on nation-building, but on dividing society on the basis of medieval obscurantism that takes no cognizance of the evolution of the world's society and economy over the past thousand years. People whose minds have been developed by such curricula can never become credible interlocutors in modern nation-building.

Posted by Mike on October 09, 2008 at 02:04 AM BST #

Why do we underestimate the truth and reality? And the truth is that fighting is only worsening the situation. Something else has to be done too. You can see that the circle of the so called Taliban is getting bigger and bigger since the collapse of the Taliban regime in Kabul. Especially now when the NATO trained Afghan police are joining them in Herat. Can you ask your experts why? I think the answer is simple as this old Afghan expression “every beard man is not Soor Gul” = all the insurgents are not Taliban. I am sure that the British Foreign Office knows the word “Taliban” verbal meaning. They are joined and still being joined by the locals and tribal men. It’s all because of our failure to understand the situation on the ground. We are failed to understand the demand of the situation. What is needed? And what is being delivered? Nor the Afghan people were happy having Taliban neither they are happy seeing NATO forces, killing their time in Afghanistan. We really need to change our approach in order to win this war. Nothing is complex if it is studied carefully and appropriately

Posted by Bashir Khan Patzun on October 16, 2008 at 01:18 PM BST #

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