Test for new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, Pakistan (2)

According to the survey, the U.S. and NATO forces have not been so popular among local Afghans with the efforts to win their hearts over a period of time in the Multan and Pashtun areas of Balochistan especially Quetta; many Pashtuns there do not like to recognize the present Afghan government and but want the United States to hold reconciliation talks with Taliban leaders.

Ahemide Rashid, a noted Pakistani expert on Taliban, said in his recent signed article that the return of Taliban leadership to Afghan politics is a most realist option though not the best way for the West as the United States and NATO presence cannot not sustain in a long-term point of view.

A major operation U.S. Army soldiers launched in support of a planned US-Afghan attack on the largest Taliban controlled town in south Afghanistan in February was the first major attempt to implement the new strategy, and it was easy to seize the town of 80,000 people, almost 610 km southwest of Kabul, but it was very difficult to foster the government's authority and development project among local people. Although NATO and Afghan forces have 15,000 troops at present, it is still hard for them to stem Taliban forces from re-accumulating strength nearby the town.

To date, the current U.S. and NATO military deployment in Kandahar has almost completed and, in this context the Taliban spring offensive has been announced in May. Taliban militants attacked the main NATO Base in south Afghanistan in six days. … The next day, dozens of Taliban militants attacked the main U.S. military base at Bagram Airfied, killing an American contractor in fighting that last more than eight hours… Such large facilities as Kandahar and Bagram are rare, and the two attacks in the same week show that the militants are capable of complex operations despite NATO military pressure. The Taliban forces have spread out beyond their heartland in the south in recent years to increasingly launch attacks countryside.

Furthermore, with the expected U.S. and NATO military operations, Taliban forces will launch more assaults countryside to show their strength.

By People's Daily Online

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