RSS

Bonn Agenda Misses the Important Issues

Jonathan Steele, The Guardian | December 5, 2011

Even as NATO troops aim to leave Afghanistan in 2014, they are building an Afghan army to continuing fighting the war for them. ++ This is a misguided policy that will further empower a government that the Pashtuns, Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, sees marginalizing them. ++ In addition, such a policy would undermine peace talks with the Taliban, who (rightly) now regard them as ambiguous and in bad faith. ++ Unfortunately, neither of these issues is on the agenda for today’s Bonn conference; this is a major mistake.