Afghanistan: Will Rasmussen’s shift of policy be what NATO really needs?

Taliban return to Kunduz after German military offensive. One would have to think what are these offensives done for. Abdul Wahid Omarkehl, administrative chief in the Char Darah district in Kunduz province, has said:

“When the operation began, the leaders of the Taliban fled to neighboring provinces and other areas. Others simply hid their weapons and blended in with the local population,” said Abdul Wahid Omarkehl, administrative chief in the Char Darah district in Kunduz province. “Now, they have just taken their weapons back out again and those who fled to neighboring provinces have come back after the end of the operation.

We will see how Danish ex-PM Rasmussen manages as NATO Secretary General. He has expressly named Afghanistan’s stability and the relationship with Russia as top priorities of the organization. He is also hoping to improve relations with the countries around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East, although probably his defence of Danish freedom of expression in the Danish cartoons’ affair will make things difficult. His disposition to speak with “moderate Talibans” (who are those), while at the same time shifting the policy in the country to support Human Rights (after passing a Constitution based on ShariahLaw?) can’t be considered as coherent. But are nonetheless, similar to those uttered by French FM Kouchner, by British FM Milliband, Danish Army (as most Danes think the war is unwinnable), US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or the Obama Administration, but totally against Kai Eide, special representative for Afghanistan of UNSG Ban Ki-Moon, who has voiced his opinion for a total negotiation with the Taliban, including Mullah Omar, because you have to be “ambitious” (and suicidal, too…My God….).

My opinion on this “negotiation” is summarised by these words from Telegraph’s Nile Gardiner:

British, American, Canadian and other NATO troops are not dying on the battlefields of south Asia to facilitate the return of a medieval-style government steeped in barbarism where women are treated as fourth-class citizens and individual liberty is non-existent. It would be only a matter of time before an Afghanistan dominated by “moderate” Taliban returned to its old position as a safe haven for al-Qaeda to launch attacks against New York, Washington or London.

Unluckily, it looks like politicians don’t see it that way.

Tags Technorati: Afghanistan, Rasmussen, NATO, NATO Secretary General, Taliban, Shariah Law, Human Rights, Kouchner, France, Milliband, UK, Denmark, Hillary Clinton, Obama Administration, Kai Eide, Ban Ki-Moon, UN, UNSG