Here is the full report -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Body [mailto:plutob@shaw.ca] Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2007 12:49 PM To: Pamela Branch; Larry Hendricks Subject: Fwd: Is anybody listening? Begin forwarded message: From: Bob Boase Date: November 21, 2007 5:17:14 PM PST (CA) To: Bob Boase Subject: Is anybody listening? London, 21 Nov. (AKI) - The situation in Afghanistan has reached "crisis proportions" with the Taliban close to taking control of the capital, Kabul, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Senlis Council, an independent think-tank with a permanent presence in Afghanistan. The think-tank said that there is a "permanent Taliban presence" on 54 percent of the country. The security situation has reached crisis proportions. The insurgency now controls vast swathes of unchallenged territory including rural areas, border areas, some district centres, and important road arteries, said Norine MacDonald QC, president and lead field researcher of The Senlis Council. The report, entitled "Stumbling into Chaos: Afghanistan on the brink", said that Afghanistan was in danger of becoming a divided state and that the Taliban are the de facto governing authority in significant portions of southern Afghanistan. It is a sad indictment of the current state of Afghanistan that the question now appears not to be whether the Taliban will return to Kabul, but when this will happen said MacDonald. Their stated aim of reaching the city in 2008 appears more viable than ever, and it is incumbent upon the international community to implement a dramatic change in strategy before time runs out, she said. NATO has just over 40,000 troops operating in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force. The United States and Britain are the largest contributors, with 15,000 and 7,700 soldiers, respectively. The report by the Senlis Council said that NATO countries needed to increase their presence in the country and suggested that the alliance double the size of its force in Afghanistan to 80,000 in order to deal with the Taliban threat. According to the think-tank, the Taliban have gained legitimacy in the minds of the Afghan people because they have exploited public frustration over poverty and inflammatory US-led counter narcotics policies. In order to defeat the Taliban, the Senlis Council suggests that firstly NATO troop numbers have to be doubled to 80,000, with most of them coming from NATO countries and some 9,000 troops from Muslim countries. NATO countries cannot just restrict troops to fighting in the south or send insufficient troops as this would be "tantamount to abandonment of the [Afghan president Hamid] Karzai government and the Afghan people," said Macdonald. The Senlis Council also urged NATO forces "to urgently enter Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) which has become a training ground for the Taliban and al-Qaeda elements". "The Taliban have established firm roots across the border in Pakistan," said Macdonald. "President [General Pervez] Musharraf has been unable to deal with these bases, and as a result it is impossible to stop the growth of the insurgency in Afghanistan," she said. NATO troops in Pakistan are therefore urgently required to quell this growing threat, and ensure that this area is closed down as a home base for the Taliban and al-Qaeda." The think-tank also called for 'Combat Aid agencies' to be established, which would see the British and Canadian militaries in charge of the delivery of aid to warzones in the south. It also said that aid and development funding should match military funding. The delivery of food and development aid by the British and Canadian militaries would be a huge boost to the hearts and minds campaign of both governments in southern Afghanistan, said MacDonald. This would be an excellent counter-insurgency strategy strengthening ties with the local communities, which is the only viable way to defeat the insurgency in Afghanistan. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.3/1144 - Release Date: 11/21/2007 4:28 PM
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