Washington: The Obama administration must
approve a request for a troop surge in Afghanistan as
depriving military commanders of resources is a "recipe of
failure," an eminent US expert on South Asia has said.
"Obama's Afghan strategy should provide US military
commanders on ground resources they need to fight a successful
counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban. Depriving our
commanders of the resources they require is a recipe for
failure," said Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation.
A return of Taliban rule would establish Afghanistan as a
base for international terrorists to pursue their agenda,
including destabilising nuclear-armed Pakistan and conducting
terrorist strikes across the globe, Curtis said in her latest
news analysis at the conclusion of Afghan elections.
With Hamid Karzai re-elected as President, she said
President Barack Obama should end the uncertainty surrounding
the future of US engagement in the region, noting that the
ongoing debate has already cost the US credibility with its
NATO allies.
The US and its international partners must prevail on
Karzai to do things differently in his second term, including
taking immediate steps to reign in corruption, Curtis argued.
"He also must distance himself from war lords and those
associated with narco-trafficking and establish a cabinet of
competent ministers who can work effectively," she said.
She also noted that the stakes for US national security
in the region are far too high to allow the imperfect
elections to cause us to scale back the mission there.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009, 19:25