| |
UN agrees Afghan war cannot be won
Kabul—The war in Afghanistan cannot be won
militarily and success is only possible through political means
including dialogue between all relevant parties, the UN’s top
official in the country said on Monday.
His comments come a day after Britain’s top military commander in
Afghanistan told the Sunday Times that the war could not be won and
that some form of insurgency would exist even after international
troops left the country.
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said if the Taliban were willing to
talk, that might be “precisely the sort of progress” needed to end
the insurgency.
“I’ve always said to those that talk about the military surge ...
what we need most of all is a political surge, more political
energy,” Kai Eide, the UN special envoy to Afghanistan, told news
conference in Kabul.
“We all know that we cannot win it militarily. It has to be won
through political means. That means political engagement.”
Eide said success depended on speaking with all those involved in
the conflict but did not say whether this included the Taliban.
“If you want to have relevant results, you must speak to those who
are relevant. If you want to have results that matter, you must
speak to those who matter,” he said.
Kai Eide also appealed Monday to leaders of a Taliban-led insurgency
to allow aid workers to distribute food aid ahead of winter.
Eide said the militants’ agreement to allow medical teams to reach
children in a polio immunisation drive last month should be the
basis for other humanitarian action.
“We will be in the process over the coming weeks and months to
ensure that food is available across the country to those who need
it most,” the Norwegian diplomat told reporters.
“I would take this opportunity to appeal to the Taliban and to
appeal to its leaders to ensure access for the distributors and to
expand the humanitarian agenda that we should share,” he said.
Eide said such efforts did not have political objectives and were
not linked to military ambitions to “win hearts and minds” by
distributing aid.
“It is a purely neutral humanitarian effort,” he said.
There have been more than 120 attacks on humanitarian and
development programmes in 2008, according to a report to the UN
Security Council last month. Thirty aid workers have been killed
while 92 were abducted, it said.
Several UN World Food Programme aid convoys have also been attacked
and torched.
About five million Afghans face food shortages with winter looming,
British charity Oxfam has said.—AP
|
