Afghanistan

Thursday

Alex Massie

Talking to the Taliban

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins reports in the NYT that talks have been taking place between the Taliban, the Afghan government and warlords such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Sirajuddin Haqqani as to how some kind of "peace" agreement could be reached in Afghanistan. As Mr Filkins drily notes, most, in fact all, of the terms for negotiation "seem incompatible" with American policy. Still, in some senses, this may be the key part: “America cannot win this war, and the Taliban cannot win this war,” Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, a former Taliban ambassador and one of the intermediaries, said in an interview. “I have delivered this message to the Taliban.” Maybe the US and its allies can win the war - more time! More resource!

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Paying Tribute to the New Emperor

One of the odder characteristics of a certain strain of British right-wing thinking is the terror that British Prime Ministers might ever disagree with the American president. It's almost as if there's a fear that if Britain takes an different view then Washington will chuck us overboard and find a new european friend with whom to play. (Sometimes that's the Germans, though at the moment the French might be thought the more likely rivals). Such fears are, I suspect, overdone. Still, here's Con Coughlin today: But the quid pro quo for a bigger American military commitment to Afghanistan is that Washington's European allies - which includes Britain - step up to the plate and commit more resources of their own.

Monday

Alex Massie

The Afghan Conundrum

Joe Klein has been to Afghanistan, so that puts him one up on me. Still, having spent some time pointing out the (widely-acknowledged) complexity of the situation in Afghanistan, Klein concludes his piece with this sweeping pronouncement: The first step toward resolving the war in Afghanistan is to lay down the law in both Islamabad and Kabul. The message should be the same in both cases: The unsupervised splurge of American aid is over. The Pakistanis will have to stop giving tacit support and protection to terrorists, especially the Afghan Taliban. The Karzai government will have to end its corruption and close down the drug trade.

Thursday

Alex Massie

Obama and Europe, Cont.

Dan Drezner politely suggests I'm talking (or writing, rather) through my hat in this gloomy assessment of the transformational potential of the Obama presidency. Dan prefers to see the potential rather than the pitfalls. And he may be correct. It would probably be better for all if he were. As it happens, I do think he's right to argue that many european policy elites - and certainly much of the think tank world - do believe that Afghanistan must and can be saved. And it is certainly possible that withdrawing form Iraq (if that proves possible) could create the space and manpower needed to refocus on the "Good War".

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Winning and Losing in Afghanistan

A rather interesting development in Kabul. The French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaînė (France's Private Eye) claims that the British Ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, has told the French that the war is lost. According to Le Canard: The British ambassador and his deputy have in turn contacted me to pass on their analysis of the situation before the Franco-British meeting on Afghanistan. These were their main points:-- The current situation is bad. The security situation is getting worse. So is corruption and the government has lost all trust.

Thursday

Alex Massie

Palin on Afghanistan

So, yeah, keeping Sarah Palin away from the press isn't too stupid a strategy. The second half of her interview with Katie Couric airs tonight. Alas, it's on foreign policy and it's not, I think, likely to be pretty. Here, for instance, is Palin talking about Afghanistan: Katie Couric: Why is it much more challenging there? Can you explain that? Sarah Palin: The logistics that we are already suggesting here, not having enough troops in the area right now. The… things like the terrain even in Afghanistan and that border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where, you know, we believe that-- Bin Laden is-- is hiding out right now and… and is still such a leader of this terrorist movement. There… there are many more challenges there.

Thursday

Alex Massie

No escape for Brown

Hamid Karzai, wag: Gordon Brown had to suffer the indignity of a joke about his leadership from Afghan president Hamid Karzai during a press conference in Kabul.Mr Karzai, who faces numerous challenges to his own leadership, made the quip as reporters pressed the British Prime Minister over his relationship with David Miliband.“Cabinet ministers plotting is nothing new. We have it in Afghanistan - although not my foreign minister,” Mr Karzai remarked. Brown of course also pledged to continue the futile drug war. We've been in Afghanistan for six years now. To what end? Or, to put it another way, what will we achieve in ten years that we couldn't in six?

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Rupert Murdoch’s Curious NATO Vision

From James Joyner: News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch says that NATO is in a “crisis of confidence” because Western Europe is “losing its faith in the values and institutions that have kept us free.” He calls for a radical redefinition of the Alliance in order to save it, including extending membership to Australia, Japan, and Israel. Murdoch, who is receiving the Atlantic Council of the United States’ Distinguished Business Leader Award for 2008, says in his prepared remarks that, “We must face up to a painful truth: Europe no longer has either the political will or social culture to support military engagements in defense of itself and its allies. However strong NATO may be on paper, this fact makes NATO weak in practice.

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Washington, You Have a Problem

The invasion of Iraq may have been deeply unpopular in much of the world, but this is the sort of horrific story that has done the United States much more damage than the initial decision to topple Saddam Hussein's regime. And, alas, it's hard not to think that this damage is entirely deserved. The shame of it. At the age of 19, Murat Kurnaz vanished into America's shadow prison system in the war on terror. He was from Germany, traveling in Pakistan, and was picked up three months after 9/11. But there seemed to be ample evidence that Kurnaz was an innocent man with no connection to terrorism. The FBI thought so, U.S. intelligence thought so, and German intelligence agreed.

Monday

Alex Massie

Moustaches of the Hindu Kush

Christmas in Helmand Province, Afghanistan can't be the bonniest gig on the planet. Hence this contest amongst the Royal Marines of 40 Commando: who can grow the spiffiest moustache. Best, however, is Major Alex Murray's reminder that this takes us back to the days of the great Harry Flashman: "Generations of our forefathers have been marching around these hills with the most splendid array of facial hair," he says. "We found throughout history, the upper lip has been stiffened with a good moustache. "Some aspects of warfare are timeless, and in this case the requirement for impressive facial hair is as important today as it was for our forefathers working on the North West Frontier. "Generations of British marines have operated in places like Afghanistan over the last two centuries.

Alex Massie

Christmas Quote of the Year

More from Helmand province where Sergeant Kraig Whalley of the Royal Military Police says: "We were thinking of challenging the Taliban to a game of football on Christmas Day, but I'm not sure they'd get the joke.