THE United States defence secretary, Robert Gates, has accused Britain's military commander in Afghanistan and its ambassador to the country of being "defeatist" in thinking the war cannot be won.
Comments by Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith and the ambassador, Sherard Cowper-Coles, have been echoed by the top United Nations official in Kabul, who said success was possible only through dialogue and other political efforts.
But Mr Gates, who
is trying to drum up more troops for the conflict, insisted: "While we face significant challenges in Afghanistan, there certainly is no reason to be defeatist or to underestimate the opportunities to be successful in the long run."
The US led an invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October, 2001, to oust the fundamentalist Taleban government in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. However, security has deteriorated markedly over the past two years.
Washington is reviewing its Afghan strategy in a similar way to the 2006 reappraisal of its Iraq policy that led to a "surge" of 30,000 troops and helped to pull the country back from the brink of civil war.
Mr Gates said part of the solution in Afghanistan would be negotiating with members of the Taleban willing to work with the government in Kabul. He compared that to reconciliation efforts in Iraq, where tribal leaders have switched sides to fight the insurgency and al-Qaeda.
Asked about possible peace talks with the Taleban, Mr Gates said: "What we have seen in Iraq applies in Afghanistan. Part of the solution is strengthening the Afghan security forces. Part of the solution is reconciliation with people willing to work with the Afghan government."
Talk of negotiating with the Taleban also featured in the comments by the British commander and the UN official.
Kai Eide, the UN special envoy to Afghanistan, told a news conference on Monday: "What we need most of all is a political surge, more political energy.
"We all know that we cannot win it militarily. It has to be won through political means. That means political engagement."
The Taleban has repeatedly rejected the idea of talks unless all 70,000 foreign troops leave the country. "As we said before, as long as the invader forces are in Afghanistan, we won't participate in any negotiations," Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a Taleban spokesman, said.
On Sunday, Brigadier Carleton-Smith said the war against the Taleban could not be won and the goal was to shrink the insurgency so it was no longer a strategic threat and could be dealt with by the Afghan army.
If the Taleban were willing to talk, he said, that might be "precisely the sort of progress" needed to end the insurgency.
Faced with the reluctance of some of its European allies to send more troops, Washington has asked Japan and Nato countries to help foot the $17 billion (£9.7 billion) bill to build up the Afghan army.
The Afghan defence ministry says the cost of one foreign soldier in Afghanistan is equal to more than 60 local troops.
Washington's review of its Afghanistan policy has been characterised as a serious study of current thinking. But US officials concede it will probably yield only recommendations for the next president – either John McCain or Barack Obama – who will take office in January.
