02 August 2009

At least 6 NATO troops killed in Afghanistan Saturday; 3 more die Sunday

"The lack of a unified vision and strategy is jeopardizing the military alliance's reputation, a House of Commons committee said in a report released Sunday."
-cnn.com

"The core rationale for the current NATO mission in Afghanistan is to ensure that the Afghan authorities can prevents the Taliban's al Qaeda allies from exploiting Afghanistan as a base for terrorist operations...

So far, Afghan leaders and their U.S. backers have made only half- hearted, ill-funded, and largely futile efforts to exploit the willingness of Taliban leaders to
switch sides...

Of all the shortcomings of the Afghan government and its NATO allies, it is the failure to provide security for ordinary Afghans that has most prevented large-scale reconciliation in the country...

Reconciliation efforts will therefore have to zero in on the particular characteristics of each group: its tribal links, its traditions, the special conditions under which it functions."
-Foreign Affairs

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