LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's commander in Afghanistan has said the war against the Taliban cannot be won, the Sunday Times reported.
It quoted Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith as saying in an interview that if the Taliban were willing to talk, then that might be "precisely the sort of progress" needed to end the insurgency. "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," he said.
He said his forces had "taken the sting out of the Taliban for 2008" but that troops may well leave Afghanistan with there still being a low level of insurgency.
That's how Reuters reports a conflict involving Western governments while the reporting on the conflict in Sri Lanka would always revolve around why there could not a clear winner and how hard it would be for Sri Lanka to move forward without giving concessions to groups determined to cause the nation irreperable harm.
Sri Lankan leaders and civillians need to look to a horizon where there could always remain the threat of violence and terrorism, but reduced to manageable levels from where it was two years ago as well.
It quoted Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith as saying in an interview that if the Taliban were willing to talk, then that might be "precisely the sort of progress" needed to end the insurgency. "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," he said.
He said his forces had "taken the sting out of the Taliban for 2008" but that troops may well leave Afghanistan with there still being a low level of insurgency.
That's how Reuters reports a conflict involving Western governments while the reporting on the conflict in Sri Lanka would always revolve around why there could not a clear winner and how hard it would be for Sri Lanka to move forward without giving concessions to groups determined to cause the nation irreperable harm.
Sri Lankan leaders and civillians need to look to a horizon where there could always remain the threat of violence and terrorism, but reduced to manageable levels from where it was two years ago as well.
There has never been any need to give concessions to terrorists. We have busted the myth that terrorism cannot be defeated militarily. And that fact is not reported quite conveniently, by those who used to use it as a slogan.
Terrorism can and must be defeated. Sri Lanka is a clear example of this fact.
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